Unsure
by CrescentMoonNinja16
Summary: this is my first fanfiction, sorry about my mistakes. hinata has grown strong but has stopped waiting for naruto, so she thought. please review. DISCONTINUED! sorry but i lost where i was going since i haven't been working on it. again i'm really sorry about this to whoever even remembers this.
1. Chapter 1

|-{-|-{-|-}-|-}-|

Uzumaki Naruto was walking down one of the long, twisting streets in Konohagakure, the village hidden in the leaves; when up ahead a figure was thrown out of a door way. Naruto recognized them to be Hyuga Hinata.

He rushed to her and asked "Are you okay? What just happened?"

Hinata didn't notice him though, she was too busy banging on the door shouting "Can I at least have my jacket back?"

The door opened and her jacket was thrown in her face before they snarled "Here! Don't ever come by here again you bitch!"

For the first time, Hinata noticed that there was someone else near her. She turned to Naruto and asked "What do you want, Naruto? And don't you dare tell anyone what you just witnessed."

"Who was that? And, are you okay? He seemed pretty pissed about something." came Naruto's worried response. When Hinata went to put on her jacket, Naruto noticed how she grimaced in pain whenever she moved her shoulder. He also noticed bruises up and down both of her arms and shoulders.

Hinata saw him looking at her arms and said "I'm fine. I just did something to anger him so he beat me up. I'll heal in a couple of days and please don't make a fuss about this to anyone. I'm not dating that bastard ever again."

"He's beaten you up more than once, hasn't he?" Naruto asked hesitantly; wondering why she never dumped that guy in the first place.

"Yeah, but he had promised to never do that again so I came back. Not that he ever kept the promise; he would just buy me flowers and give me a sad face saying how sorry he was. I'm going bet that tomorrow I'll find some flowers outside my door as another apology." she said quietly.

"What happened to you Hinata? You used to be so kind and shy, but now here you are dating that loser and getting beat up by him." said Naruto. He remembered back at the academy that Hinata was quiet and shy; now she was confident, calm, and strong but making wrong choices. She used to stutter and blush when she looked at him instead of glaring, like right now.

"I got tired of being called weak and waiting for you to notice me. I became strong so that my father wouldn't hate me anymore. I'll see you around." after she said that she left. On her way home she ran into Kiba and Shino.

Kiba asked her "Are you okay? Did you get in another fight with your boyfriend?"

"Yeah and Naruto saw me get thrown out of his house. I'm not going back there anytime soon. What are you guys up to?"

"Akamaru ran from me when I said that it was time to go to the vet, now we can't find him anywhere. Do you think that you can help look for him?" asked Kiba. He was really, worried about Akamaru; he had never run away before. Usually Akamaru just hid for a couple of hours until he thought that Kiba had forgotten about taking him to the vet. This time Akamaru bolted and Kiba couldn't find him anywhere.

"Sure I'll help. Do you know which direction he was heading?"

"I saw him run past me heading in the direction of your house Hinata." said Shino.

"I'll look around near there and meet you in front of your sister's house in two hours Kiba. I bet that I can find him in that time. See you." Hinata left Kiba and Shino to looking around while she headed to the roof of her house to get the best vantage point. There she activated the byakugan, her kekkei genkai, and looked around the village. Near the academy she saw Akamaru with Naruto petting him so she took a deep breath before taking off in that direction.

When she neared the academy she ran head long into Naruto before getting knocked off her feet by Akamaru. Akamaru was licking her face in delight while Hinata pushed against him trying to get him off her. She kept saying "Get off Akamaru. Ha-ha, get off of me you oaf. You have Kiba worried sick about you, he's looking all over for you." Hinata looked up at Naruto and asked "How did you find him?"

"I didn't, Akamaru found me. I turn a corner and then I find this fur ball trying to climb a tree to get at a squirrel. I tried to get him to stop then you come along and he runs right up to you. So why did he run from Kiba?"

"Kiba is taking him to the vet and Akamaru is a scardy cat so he ran away. Kiba and Shino are out looking for him right now. Shino said that he saw Akamaru running in the direction of my house so I used my byakugan to see where he was; now I have to head in the direction of Kiba's sister's house. I guess that I'll see you later Naruto."

"Wait! I'll come with you in case he tries to make a run for it." said Naruto. He wanted to talk to Hinata about some stuff that she had said earlier. When she said that she was tired of waiting on him he realized a little too late that she had liked him at some point of time and that he felt so, stupid that he didn't realize sooner. He wanted to apologize to her and ask if she would consider dating him. As they neared Kiba's sister's house he tried to get the courage to ask her.

Instead he said "I'll see you tomorrow, Hinata.", when he was around the next corner he smacked himself in the head thinking that he was such a coward about not asking her out. The next day he saw Hinata talking with Sakura, Ino, and Tenten about a mission that Lady Tsunade had assigned to them. The kunoichis were apparently supposed to go on an intelligence gathering mission to find in-tell on a small village that seems to be growing in power but solely consists of females with a couple of males. Every female there is an A-class criminal or higher so this is an important mission for the village. Naruto found out that they were leaving in less than a week so his opportunity is flying by.

He tried to get Hinata alone but every time he went to talk to her someone else would come up out of nowhere and dashed his hope. Finally the day before they left, he got to speak to her alone until her old boyfriend came up and draped his arm across her shoulders.

Hinata said "Get your hand off me you jerk!"

"Don't be like that. Didn't you get my flowers I sent you? I promise that I won't beat you up again." he said in a soothing tone but Hinata wouldn't hear it.

"Just like that last time that you promised? Yeah right, like I'm going to believe you." she said incredulously.

"Who's this kid right here? Are you cheating on me?"

"I'm not a kid. I'm just hanging with Hinata, why don't you just leave?" said Naruto. He was pissed that this guy had enough nerve to drape his arm across Hinata's shoulders after beating her up over and over again.

"I'd have to still be going out with you to be cheating on you; now wouldn't I? This is Naruto, my new boyfriend. Now if you'll excuse us we have somewhere to be." she said this while shoving his arm off her shoulders and taking Naruto's hand.

Naruto on the other hand was shocked at what happened so he let Hinata drag him for a while before she turned and dropped his hand. After she dropped his hand she said "Thanks for going along with me back there. Sorry about dragging you here and stating that you're my new boyfriend. I can't believe that he bought that. Can you?" she laughed.

Naruto almost flinched at her tone; she was practically saying that they will never go out.

"Listen, I'm sorry about that. I think that I have set him onto you so I would look out if I were you." she warned him. Hinata doesn't want to believe it but she still has some feelings for Naruto but she doesn't want him to have that satisfaction of seeing her suffer. Then she remembered what they were doing before her ex showed up.

"What did you want to talk to me about? You know before we got interrupted." she asked.

"I forgot. Good luck on your mission with Ino and the rest." he said instead. If he asked her out now she would just laugh in his face and say that it would never happen in a million years.

What he didn't know was that Hinata was hoping that he would ask her out but when he didn't she just smacked her forehead mentally for thinking that. She wasn't going to wait on him to ask her anymore, she has promised herself that she'll get over him but it was going to take some time to burry those feelings. They had been within her for as long as she could remember; she promised herself that after her mission she would find someone else to date.

The next day Naruto saw the team off with some other people. He paid the most attention to Hinata and when she looked over to him he would smile.

She couldn't figure out why he wasn't doing that to Sakura, the girl that he's been in love with for a long time. Sakura noticed this between Hinata and Naruto and wondered what was going on.

On their way to the village when they stopped for camp, Sakura went up to Hinata and asked if she wanted to get some fire wood with her.

When they were far enough away from the camp Sakura asked Hinata "What was that between Naruto and you?"

"I'm not sure. I thought that he still loved you." she replied just as puzzled.

"You don't love him anymore, don't you?" Sakura said after a second.

Hinata adverted her gaze and lied "I've moved on from him a long time ago. I decided to stop waiting on him to ask me out. Why do you ask?"

"Hinata, we both know that you are not over him. Just looking at you I see that you still love him and you are just lying to yourself when you say that you don't love him. Come on we need to head back before the others start to worry." Sakura said.

What Sakura didn't know was that Hinata was scared by how close to the mark she was on what she said. Hinata thought on her decisions and wondered if it was the right thing to do but she remembered that she couldn't wait forever for Naruto to ask her. If she did then she would be disappointed when they returned. She just couldn't get his expression out of her head when they left earlier; the look on his face was one of regret and fear.

The next couple of weeks they headed to the village and convinced the leader there that they were rogue from different villages. That they could be for hire for any assassinations, the only thing was to never invite a male into the village no matter what. And to give up on men until they left her village, when Hinata and the others agreed to the terms they were accepted into the village. As they were getting situated Sakura started to talk to some of the others and asked how it was to live there. They all replied that they were tired of how men treated them so they sought out a village just like this and when they did they readily agreed to give up men.

Over the next couple of weeks they were sent out to kill some men that have been harassing all of the women at this village. They were raping some of the women when they stepped out of the borders. When they completed each of the missions they were accepted even more and Hinata was really starting to enjoy herself more than she had ever in Konohagakure. Sakura saw the danger before Tenten and Ino, she decided to try and talk some sense into Hinata.

|-{-|-{-|-}-|-}-|


	2. Chapter 2

**author's note: i am going to update this time but next time i won't until i get review. sorry to those who read this about not updating for a while.**

**disclaimer: i own nothing**

|-{-|-{-|-}-|-}-|

"Come on Hinata, you need to remember why you love the leaf village. Remember your friends, family. Remember Naruto, do you know how crushed he would be if you never went back?" Sakura said trying to get Hinata to come back with them the next day.

"Sakura you know that that isn't true. He had never loved me and he never will. You are the only person that he ever loved and you will stay that way in his heart. Here no one ignores me; I'm one of the best shinobi. Everyone respects me and the guys don't look past me, they look directly at me when I walk by. Unlike a certain someone. Just face it; I'm not going back with you and the others. Do you think that you could tell Lady Tsunade for me?" Hinata said after a second. She knew why Sakura cared so much but she was tired of how she was treated back at home. She loved this village where she was respected and loved. Hinata also wanted to get away from Naruto and her ex-boyfriend once and for all and forget about them.

"Fine I'll tell her but you need to write a letter to your family and one to Naruto." Sakura said thinking that once Naruto read the note that he would come and talk some sense into Hinata but that hope was dashed when she saw Hinata's reaction to the request.

"Why would I need to write _him_ a letter saying that I'm not coming back? I'll write to my family and that is it. I am not writing to Naruto, no matter how much you bug me to." she said with finality that Sakura couldn't doubt.

Sakura was troubled when she, Ino, and Tenten started back on the road without Hinata next to them. On the way Ino stopped Sakura and asked "So this is it? We leave on a mission and come back without the Hyuga main branches heir? How did we manage to do that? Do you know how crushed Kiba and Shino will be when we show up without her? How will her father react when we don't have Hinata with us?"

"Do you know how much a certain knucklehead ninja will react?" Tenten asked. She didn't miss the way that he had looked at Hinata when they left, about a month ago.

Sakura said grimly "I am not looking forward to telling him about this. The thing is the more I think about this the more I understand her choice. If you think about it, Hinata had been a little disrespected everywhere she went and she had been ignored also. I would have wanted away from our village if I was treated like that every day of my life."

"Is that really how she was treated every day?" asked Ino, as she tried to think back before Hinata got strong. She couldn't ever remember any time that they had a conversation before, when she was shy.

"I think that we even treated her like that for a time before she got over being shy." said Tenten.

A couple of days later they were walking into the village and on their way to the Hokage's office they ran into Kiba, Shino, Naruto, and Hanabi. As soon as Hanabi spotted Sakura and the rest she rushed up and demanded how the mission went and where her sister is.

"I'll tell you after we talked with Lady Tsunade or she will tell you herself. I'm sorry but we really need to see her." explained Sakura. She was stalling as much as she could before she had to break the news to them.

After seeing Tsunade, Sakura stopped by to see Sasuke. Naruto had succeeded in bringing him back and Sasuke had been seeing Sakura shortly after he got back. When she told him about Hinata he realized right away that Naruto was going to be crushed. He asked her if she wanted him to tell Naruto the news but she knew it was her responsibility. They decided that both of them were going to tell him.

When they finally met up with Naruto he was looking around for Hinata and as Sakura walked up he asked "Where is Hinata? I need to talk to her."

"She's not here…exactly. What do you need to talk to her about?" asked Sakura. She could see that Naruto was getting worried about Hinata. She could also see that he really cares about Hinata and was over herself. That just made the news even worse for him.

"Where is she? She didn't die over there, did she?" he asked scared. If she had died he didn't know how he would react to that.

"She's still at the other village, Naruto."

"Okay…so when is she coming back?" he asked.

"Naruto, she's not coming back here ever." Sasuke said. He didn't want to beat around the issue anymore and had to tell him. "I'm sorry, Naruto. But Hinata had decided to stay there with the rogues."

"You're lying. She had to tie up some lose ends and she'll be here later this week. You have to be lying." he said in denial.

"I'm sorry but Sasuke is telling the truth. She wanted to stay there and asked me to take her stuff over to her. She liked it there a lot and didn't want to leave so she stayed. Tsunade is trying to convince her to come back but it will be a week to get the letter there and back. I'm so sorry, Naruto." Sakura said after a strained moment. When she saw tears well up in his eyes she tried to hug him but he moved away. Angered that Hinata would do that and at Sakura for telling him this.

Sasuke came up to him and patted his shoulder while giving him a sad look before taking Sakura's hand and leading her away. He understood that Naruto wanted to be alone for a while to think about what they had just told him. The day that Hinata had left on the mission, Naruto had come to Sasuke to ask for some advice about how to ask her out. When Sasuke had realized that he was serious he told Naruto to wait for a while and see if she was really over him and if she wasn't then he would ask her. But hearing that he would never have a chance to date her must have hurt him really bad, enough to make him cry.

A couple of days later Naruto requested permission to head to the village to convince Hinata to come back but Tsunade couldn't afford to let him go just then. He had to wait about a month but he said that she would forget them in that time. That she won't remember how great the leaf village is if she is there for a month.

"I'm sorry, Naruto but I can't let you go just yet. You need to wait a month. I'm sorry but I just can't let you. We need you to help with protecting the village and also if you wait a month, then Hanabi, Kiba, and Shino can go along with you to help." Tsunade said. She didn't want to deny him the chance of getting Hinata back but she had to think of the entire village first. She could see how much that he cared about Hinata but she's not as important as the whole village and she's not going anywhere anytime soon.

While Naruto was arguing about leaving, Hinata was starting to doubt her decision about staying. She kind of missed everyone at the leaf village but she wasn't going back on her decision. She was staying in a village that appreciated her and her talents. So far in this village she was the most respected and all the men wanted to date her. The most important thing was that she couldn't get Naruto's face out of her head and the way he looked when she went on the mission. He seemed to have gotten over Sakura but she just wouldn't leave this life to find out that he wasn't over Sakura.

"Hinata! We need you here real quick. We can't find Yuki, have you seen her?" said Yori, the leader of the village.

"I haven't seen her! Do you need help looking for her?"

"That would be great. The last time that any of us had seen her she was in the forest looking for firewood with one of the men."

"I'll be back in ten minutes." Hinata said as she was heading for the trees. Once she was out of the village she activated her byakugan and found Yuki just a couple of miles to the east with the man. It looked like he was trying to get her to kiss him but she was shoving him away. Hinata used the teleportation jutsu that her father had taught her and she slapped the man's face to get him away from Yuki. When he saw who it was that slapped him he dropped to his knees and begged for mercy.

"I'll let Yori decide if you deserve mercy. Yuki are you all right?"

"I'm fine thanks to you. I can't believe that he would do that." after she had finished speaking she spat in his face.

|-{-|-{-|-}-|-}-|


	3. Chapter 3

|-{-|-{-|-}-|-}-|

A month later Naruto, Kiba with Akamaru, Shino, and Hanabi were walking through the forest to the village to convince Hinata to come back with them. Naruto had wanted to run at full speed toward the village but Hanabi had reasoned with him that it wouldn't help at all. On the way they need to think of a way to get the guys into the village. From what Sakura and Ino had said, they didn't accept men into the village very often. They had decided to wait and see if Hinata left the village without anyone near her to speak with her.

When they came within sight of the village they saw that Hinata was walking around with another kunoichi out in the forest and laughing at what she said to the kunoichi. Naruto gasped at how much she had changed in a month, her hair was longer and she had a huge air of confidence around her that wasn't there earlier. She seemed to have made a good life out here but he wouldn't turn back without at least trying to convince her.

Hinata felt eyes on her so she activated her byakugan and looked around until she saw the cell. She saw her sister, former teammates, and Naruto. Her glare was so cold that she saw Naruto and Hanabi take a step back in surprise. Hinata told her friend that she'll be back in a second and signaled to Naruto to head to the west for about twenty meters where they could talk in private.

As soon as Naruto was in hearing distance he asked "How are you Hinata?"

"I was fine until you guys showed up. Hey Hanabi, how is it being the Hyuga heir? I bet that father was happy that you replaced me." she said coldly.

"Actually, he's hoping that you would come back with us. And what happened to you? You were never cold before, even when you were mad at me or father."

"I grew up. And no matter what you say, I'm never going back to _that_ village ever again. This is my home now and I'm happy here. Until _you_ _guys_ showed up. Why are you here? What do you want?"

"I came here to get you to come back to your real home. We all miss you, even Neji misses you. _I_ missed you." Naruto pleaded. He didn't realize that he was pleading on deaf ears. Hinata had read all of his letters but she wouldn't write back, along with all the others she had received. If Yori found out that she was receiving letters and speaking to a man outside the village she would be in big trouble.

"Naruto, you have to go. I'm not coming back. I'm glad that I got to see you Kiba, Shino, and Hanabi. Sorry but I'm never going back. Good-bye." she said after a second.

Naruto couldn't help but notice that she didn't say his name; but he wouldn't let her leave just yet so he told the others to leave them alone for a minute. When the others were gone he grabbed one of her wrists and said "Just let me talk to you for a second. Hinata. Hear me out, please."

"All right, fine. I'll listen to what you have to say but I'm not promising anything."

"I can't get your face or your smile out of my head since you left for here. While you were here I realized that _I love you_. I haven't thought about dating Sakura for a long time." he said in a rush.

"Naruto, don't lie to me. I'm not going back, no matter what you tell me. Just don't lie to me while you try to convince me."

"I'm not lying. I really do love you." he growled. He was angry that she would think that he would lie to her. When Hinata shook her head he pulled her wrist, dragging her to his chest and he hugged her tight for a minute. As Hinata tried to fight out of his arms he bent down and kissed her on her mouth for a while before letting her go.

Hinata was dazed for a second before Naruto felt a stinging blow across his cheek with enough force to knock him to the ground. While he was on the ground Hinata growled "Don't you ever do that again. Next time I will kill you. Now leave this region before they find you here. If that happens you will be killed."

After Hinata was long gone, Naruto finally got up and said "I'm not giving up on you Hinata. I know that the real you is still there somewhere.", when he had kissed her, he felt for a second that she kissed him back. Stating that she was still in love with him but wouldn't admit it to herself. He was going to get her back to the village no matter what.

The next day they saw patrols and before they could hide they were found. Shino, Kiba, and Naruto were tied up while Hanabi was allowed to walk without being bound. As soon as they entered the village Hinata glared at them and shook her head in shame that they were still there.

"Who are you and why were you with in my borders?" asked Yori.

When Naruto went to answer she slapped him and said coldly "I wasn't speaking to you! I was speaking to this kunoichi. Well? Why are you here with three men?"

"We came here to see if we could get Hinata to come back to our village with us." stated Hanabi simply.

Yori looked closely at Hanabi and saw the resemblance that they had, she went over to Hinata and whispered some things with her. When she came back she smiled warmly at Hanabi and said "You will not be killed because you are Hinata's sister. We offer to you a place here in this village, if you want."

"Thank you for the offer but I'm going to have to decline. And what will happen to the others?"

"Why, they will be killed of course. Unless they are of use to us here then they can live. What can those three do?"

"They are shinobi with amazing skill, strength, and they are smart."

"I guess that they can help us or die. Well? Which will it be?" she asked calmly, like she decided the life of three people every day.

"We'll help you." Naruto said after consulting with Shino and Kiba.

"Hinata, what do you think?" Yori asked after a second.

"I think that we should have just killed them." she said coldly, glaring at Naruto.

Yori laughed at her tone but told their guards to take them to the men's barracks and untie them. They needed to get acquainted with the other men here and learn the rules here if they wanted to stay alive; she also saw that Hanabi decided to stay also, so she had Hinata show her around.

The next day Hinata saw Naruto work on chopping wood with Kiba, when Naruto felt eyes on him he turned and stared after Hinata. He decided that at the first opportunity he would try and talk to her again about leaving this village. That was until he saw the way that everyone treated her there, and also the looks from the other men she received when she walked by. He saw that she was well respected and wanted here unlike at the leaf village. When some of the other guys saw Naruto staring after her, they decided to teach the new kid a lesson the next day.

While getting firewood the next day, Naruto was surrounded by at least four guys. They all closed in when one of them said "Who do you think you are, staring after Lady Hinata? If you haven't noticed, she's going to be mine. I'll not have you destroy that for me."

"You know, you really should get to know the person that you're trying to beat up. , and also where they come from. I came from the same village as Lady Hinata."

"Yeah right, I bet she was even in love with you there at the village. Like we're going to believe that." he sneered. "Let's teach him a lesson."

"Let's not." said a cold voice. Someone was standing in the shadows and when she walked into the sunlight they saw that it was Hinata. She stepped right up to the guy and said "If I find out that you're going to try this again you will be dead."

"Yori would never allow that."

"Want to bet on that? Are you _sure_ that she cares about you? I'm pretty sure that she will side with me on this one, boys. Now leave before I change my mind about showing you mercy."

"Yes, ma'am. But when you're not here to protect him know that he won't be here when you get back."

"Oh, I'm sure that will happen." her voice was so cold that every one of them turned around and started to full out run back to the village. When they were gone she turned to Naruto and asked "Are you okay? Did they do anything to you? I mean just in case Kiba or Shino ask about it."

"I'm fine. Nothing happened before you came. They were just about to start to beat me up because I stared after you yesterday. The leader said that he was going to make you his." Naruto explained, watching her reaction to what had been about to happen. He saw that she had been generally worried about him then he started to wonder about how she knew where he had been.

"Hinata? How did you find me here?" he asked.

"I noticed that you had left for firewood about half an hour ago. Then I asked another man where the others were, he told me that they had planned to teach you a lesson about something." she said while blushing. When she noticed that she was blushing she started to glare at him. She didn't want to remember why she had fallen for him when they were young genin. He was starting to remind her why she had loved him but also reminding her why she left the leaf village.

"You are really feared here. How did that happen?"

"I killed the most men on missions, which usually gets the most respect, and the fact that I beat anyone who challenged me."

"I didn't know that you had improved that much. Do you think that we could practice together?" he asked hopefully. He thought that if he spent a lot of time with her then she would remember why the leaf village is great and convince her that he loved her.

"I can't practice with you; if I got hurt then Yori would kill you for sure. And also if I hurt you then I would have to tell Kiba and Shino. I really don't want Shino mad at me." she said.

About two minutes later Hinata told him that they had to go back to the village and when they entered Yori was standing there waiting with the leader, Ichijo.

"I've heard some interesting things about you two. Hinata come with me and Naruto go to the male barracks. And Ichijo? Stay with Yuki and Karin."

"Yes, ma'am." Ichijo replied smugly.

"Hinata, be careful."

"Shut it, Naruto!" she said coldly. She didn't want anyone to know that he liked her because if they knew then they would surely kill him. No matter how much she said that she would be better off with him dead, she just couldn't imagine him dead without her eyes tearing up.

"Hinata, I need to talk to you about him. What is he to you? I need you to tell me the truth because if you aren't I'm going to have to kill him." Yori said after they were in her house.

"Back when we were in the same home village I was in love with him but at some point I decided that I wouldn't wait for him anymore. I moved on from him a while ago." Hinata said but she didn't even sound convincing to herself. Let alone to Yori.

"I don't think that you are over him yet but you soon will be."

"What do you mean by that?" Hinata asked, fearing the answer.

"I'm just saying that wouldn't it be terrible if he had an 'accident' while he was here? What do you think about that plan?" she asked.

"I'm sorry but I don't think that that is a good idea. I'm not sure that I could allow that to happen." Hinata said hesitantly.

"Why not? What's wrong with that plan?"

"Because I think that I still love him."

"That's why we need to fix that. If he's not here then you can't love him. You should know by now that men aren't trustworthy for a single second. If you date him then you will get hurt, when he tired of you then he'll just throw you out on the street without a second thought before moving on. They lie when they tell you that they love you to keep you with them until they had their fun." Yori said. She had been fighting with men for years; every one of her relationships ended with disaster until she gave up and started one of the first villages like the one they were in right then.

"I'm sure that Naruto isn't like that. He's never been that kind of guy."

"He is still a man and all men are the same no matter how much you hope differently. I think that if we killed him you would be depressed so I'll find another way to get you over him. Do you find any of the men here attractive? I mean the ones that aren't from your old village."

"I'm sorry but I don't. I haven't since before I tried to get over Naruto. I think that I fell in love too deeply that first time."

"What if you saw him dating someone else? Do you think that you could move on if you knew he was in love with someone other than you? That helped me with my first unrequited love."

"I just don't know. The other day he admitted that he loved me but I thought that he was just saying that so that he could get me back to the village."

"Let's see if we can prove that. When you go out tell Yuki to come in here for a word."

"Yes, ma'am. Yori? Is he allowed to leave the men's barracks? I want to talk to him in private for a minute." asked Hinata hesitantly.

"Sure, just have Karin or someone with you also."

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you."

When Hinata entered the men's barracks all of the people in there, fell into rank except for Naruto, he was on one of the beds and had his head on his hands. After a second she said "Naruto, can you come with me for a minute?"

"All right, I'll be there in a second."

"You will go with her now! You never have a woman wait on you!" Karin yelled before slapping him across his face.

"Yes, ma'am. Just let me get my shoes on. Sorry."

"Its fine, you don't have to hurry. Everyone else, if you follow us you will be killed on sight." Hinata warned before turning to leave.

Hinata led Naruto and Karin about two or three meters out into the forest before saying "I think that I can handle him alone Karin. I just want to ask him a couple of questions."

"All right, just yell if you need me."

After she left Naruto turned away from Hinata and said "I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to get you in trouble."

"Why are you apologizing? None of this is your fault. If I had come back with Sakura, Ino, and Tenten a month ago, none of this would have happened.

"It's not your fault. It's mine because if I had noticed that you were in love with me sooner then, I would have asked you out a whole lot sooner. You wouldn't have had any reason to stay here if I hadn't been oblivious to you."

"You do know that it wasn't just you that made me not to want to go back. But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. They think that I'm still in love with you, which I'm _not_, so they're trying to find a way to get me over you. The first idea was to make you have an 'accident', now though they are thinking of a way to get you to date someone and fall in love with them."

"But I don't want to date anyone but you. How are they going to get me to date someone?"

"I don't know but whenever Yori wants something, she usually gets it."

"What if _we_ started to date?" he said hesitantly. As soon as the words left his lips, he regretted it. She walked right in front of his face before slapping him again.

When he landed on the ground she said "Are you kidding me? They want me to get _over_ you. Don't you dare ask that again. That would just make things worse for you if they found out."

"Can I ask you something else?"

"What!"

"Could you please stop slapping me? That really hurts."

"I would if you stopped being stupid and asking stupid questions that around here could get you killed." she said while helping him up. After he was standing she looked at his cheek and saw that her slap was going to leave a bruise for a couple of days. "Sorry about that though. I was really mad."

"I'll forgive you if you kiss it." he whispered.

"What did I just say about stupid questions? If you suggest that again I'm going to have to slap you harder." Hinata said before surprising Naruto by kissing his injured cheek.

When she pulled away Naruto said "I thought that you didn't want to kiss me?"

"I know but that was for dragging you into all of this and if you say anything to someone, I will come into the barracks and kill you in your sleep." She said while looking away and pulling her hair behind her ear nervously.

"I don't doubt you for a second but before we go back I want to do something."

Before Hinata could ask him what it was, he had leaned down and started to kiss her lips, when he pulled away she went to slap him but he held out his arms in surrender. His face was so funny that Hinata decided to let that kiss pass.

"If you kiss me again, I will slap you. Or punch you, whichever you want me to do."

"How about neither of them?"

"Not likely, I think that we should head back before Karin comes looking or worse, Yori."

"Whatever you want. And remember when I talked to you about training? I stand by that offer if it doesn't kill me yet."

"I'll think about it. Now come on."

As they were walking back into the village, Kiba came up to Naruto and whispered something in his ear before heading of in the direction of where Shino was looking at an interesting bug.

After he was gone, Naruto said to Hinata "I'll see you later."

Over the next couple of days Hinata saw just about every beautiful woman in the village walk up to Naruto and whisper something in his ear. Each time though Naruto would stare in Hinata's direction and shake his head. The women would then slap him for saying no; soon Naruto's face was badly bruised from all of the slaps.

One afternoon though, Hinata walked up to him and asked "Are you okay? Did they hurt you bad?"

"I'm fine. It only hurt for about two minutes after they hit me. Every time they asked if I wanted to head to their house after I was done with my chores and each time I said no I would get a slap as a reply. Did Yori arrange this?"

"I would say so. I had told you that she was going to try something. The easiest thing for you to do is either leave here with the others or go out with the next girl."

"I am _not_ going to leave you here alone. And I'm not going to date anyone unless you ask me." he said with finality. He really wanted Hinata to call on his words, but he was disappointed when she patted his cheek a little too hard. She smiled at him then left without another word.

"I'm going to get you to go back home or I'm gonna die trying." he whispered under his breath.

After about two hours Hinata cornered Yuki and asked who the next girl was that was going to ask Naruto.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yuki, you and Yori are close. You must know what she is trying to get him to do. She is trying to get him to date and fall in love with someone to make me get over him. I just thought that she would get someone with me and not him. So who's next?"

"I'm next but I really don't want to ask. Seeing how much that you care about him. I don't want our friendship to be ruined by this."

"She was going to use you? My best friend."

"She said that that was how she got over hers. The person that she loved dated her very best friend and then broke her heart when someone new came into town. She doesn't want the same pain to happen to you. She thought that if you saw him happy then you would be over him so that I could hurt him like you were hurt."

"Only one problem with that, I'm the only one that he's interested in dating. He hasn't even looked at anyone while he's been here. And some of us aren't very ugly or covered."

"I know, the only one that he looks at is you and you are the most covered up woman in this village. Are you sure that he lied when he said that he loved you?" she asked hesitantly, sensing that Hinata was still in love with him.

"I'm sure. He had been in love with someone else for longer than I love him and I've been trying to get over him for years. He apparently had gotten over her in less than two months. Does that seem right to you?" she asked.

"I admit that that doesn't seem right but maybe he wasn't really in love with her? Did you ever wonder that?"

"No, I never thought about it like that. I only remember him being solely focused on her, she was even put on the same four man cell as genin. That's when my chances really plummeted. But now she's dating the other boy from the cell and he seems to have lowered down to me."

"I'm so sorry. But men are like that, none of them are different. They are all the same when it comes down to it."

"I'm just sick of everything that's been going on lately. To see every hot girl here hitting on him and he doesn't even consider them. I would actually feel a little better if he would even think on the decision but it's not even hesitant. I don't know what to think."

"I'm not sure either. It seems that he's only interested in you or he's just forcing himself to say no. I don't know what to think either. Yori and I have never seen a guy act like that, usually when someone hot walks by they stare after her until you hit them. No matter how much they love you."

"I have to go. I'll see you later."

Over the next couple of days Hinata was gone from the village on missions and every time that she came back she would notice that Naruto's bruises were worse. He also had some cuts as if he got beat up every day that she's gone. One day after the worst fight yet she went up to him and asked "Are you okay? What happened to you?"

"It's nothing serious. Please don't worry about me; I'm just glad that you're not hurt."

"This is serious. Do you want me to heal those injuries?"

"You can do medical ninjutsu? Since when?"

"I learned that here. I'm actually quite good at it. Just come by my house after you're done here and I'll heal you."

"Thanks, Hinata."

"No, problem and please don't tell anyone. If they find out that you are coming we would be in trouble."

"I understand."

A couple of hours later, Hinata heard a knock on her door and when she opened it she saw that Naruto had a sling on one of his arms. As he walked in she looked behind him before asking what happened to him.

"As soon as I was done with the wood, I was jumped again and beaten worse than before. After they were done they whispered 'Stay away from Hyuga Hinata or else there might be one less female in the village! Your choice, decide soon.' Hinata, you need to leave here. I think that they are going to go after you next!"

"Naruto, I'll be fine. Just leave with Shino, Hanabi, and Kiba tomorrow. Please? I don't want to see you hurt anymore."

"I'm _not_ leaving here without you! I can't leave here without you! I promised Neji and myself that I won't leave unless you are coming with me. I'm not going to leave you alone. If you want to stay here then I guess that I'm staying with you."

"I can't let you do that, Naruto. I just can't let you stay here and get beat up every day. I'm sorry that this is happening."

"Why can't you just leave with me? Why?"

"I can't go back on my decision. I can't go back to the leaf village with you in case that you realize that you don't love me and leave me. You were in love with Sakura for so long and after just two months you were over her. I've been trying to get over you for years; I just don't think that you actually _love_ me. Just please go back to Konohagakure with the others, I'll be fine here."

After she said that she healed his wounds and told him to get out of her house. When she closed the door, she sank to the floor and started to cry. Hinata really wanted to head back with Naruto where they could date but her memory of Naruto loving Sakura kept her there. She just couldn't go back just to get hurt badly from something that wouldn't heal no matter what. She wanted to believe that Naruto loved her but she just couldn't.

The next day she saw Hanabi, Shino, and Kiba leave back to the leaf village but Naruto didn't go with them. When she saw him later that day she just shook her head while continuing to walk, after a second she felt that someone was following her. She saw that it was Naruto and when he caught up to her he asked if he could talk to her in the forest.

As soon as they were far enough away from the village, Naruto turned and asked "Are you sure that you don't want to go back home? Everyone misses you. People who you thought hated you missed you. I'm sorry for the way that they treated you. The way that _I_ treated you, I should have known that you loved me, but I didn't. I was, am, an idiot for realizing it too late and too scared to ask you out when you were still at the village."

"Nothing you say is going to change my mind, Naruto. I'm never going back to Konohagakure. I just can't go back, I'm sorry." Hinata said while trying to hold back her tears. She tried to look away from Naruto while she spoke but he took her face between his hands and held her gaze.

When she stopped talking he leaned his forehead against hers and murmured "I promise that I won't leave you. Please, just come back with me. I beg you."

"I'm really sorry, but I can't go back. I can't trust what you're promising." she said as her tears spilled over her eyes and down her cheeks.

"Please…can you at least tell me why you can't trust me?"

"You loved Sakura for so long yet you're not in love with her anymore. Now you say that you love me, but is that really true? How am I to be sure that you'll love me after we get back? If you do love me then for how long will you? Would you just date me for a few days or weeks before you move on?"

"Honestly? I don't know why I don't love Sakura anymore. It just sort of happened but when I think of your smile my heart beats faster and my palms sweat. This never happened with Sakura, which is how I know that I love you and not her."

Hinata shook her head and tried to pull back but his grip on her tightened so hard that she flinched. He immediately loosened his hold but kept her trapped before leaning closer and kissing her lips. She tried to pull away but his hands moved to behind her head and her lower back. Trapping her against his chest, after a second she gave up trying to pull away and started to kiss him back while moving her hands around his neck. Naruto was taken back for a second but moved his hand from her neck to her waist and deepening the kiss. When she stopped kissing him he pulled away but kept her close to him, after a minute Hinata said "That was strange."

"I never thought that you would kiss me back. What happened?"

"I gave up fighting against you; this still doesn't change a thing. I'm not going back to our home village. And I still don't trust you, what just happened was just a onetime thing. I can't open myself like that. I can't make myself vulnerable to anyone, no matter how much I love them. I'm sorry."

"That's fine; I can wait until you can. I'll wait as long as it takes for you to trust me. I'm not giving up on you, ever."

"Then you'll have to wait forever, I'll never be ready to open myself. I can't help but remember those years that you loved Sakura and not me. Let me go, I need to go back."

Naruto bent his head and kissed her lips gently for a second before letting her go, when his hands moved Hinata immediately pulled away and ran back to the village. He watched her go for a second before heading to where Hanabi and the others were waiting.

"I'm sorry but I couldn't convince her to come back. Could you tell Tsunade that I'll be there as soon as I can get Hinata to leave?"

"Sure, but I don't think she'll let you do that. Hinata seems really happy here. She's accepted here and cared for here. No one ignores her, not even when she first arrived." Hanabi said sadly.

"I know that but I also know that she still loves me. She just doesn't trust me because of what everyone here told her. I've heard what they say about men and that they got her to believe it also."

"You didn't help yourself either when she was there at the village. Everyone but you saw that she had a huge crush on you. Neji even saw that and he never paid attention to her in the first place." Kiba said.

"Don't you think I know that? That's what is really beating me up. All of this could have been avoided if I had noticed her earlier. None of us would be here if I had asked her when she was still at Konohagakure. She would have had a reason to return with Ino, Sakura, and Tenten."

"I guess that we'll see you later, Naruto. I'm sorry about what happened here." Kiba said after a second.

After everyone said their good-byes Naruto headed back to the village alone, thinking about how much he screwed this up.

|-{-|-{-|-}-|-}-|

**a/n: i want to thank Thatguyinthegreencoat for being my first reviewer. now i understand what others have been saying about reviews. i'll update as soon as i can get on another computer with access to internet or until we get it at home. plz continue to review. and if someone could tell me what AU means that would be great**


	4. Chapter 4

|-{-|-{-|-}-|-}-|

Three months later, Sakura and Sasuke came to tell Naruto that Tsunade needed him back at the village.

"She needs you back Naruto." Sakura pleaded after a second. She could see that Naruto didn't want to go. He didn't want to leave Hinata here alone.

"How is it going with Hinata?" Sasuke asked after a second.

"She finally trusts me a little bit and if I leave I'll be back to where we were in the beginning. What's happened to make Tsunade want me back suddenly?"

"We received word that the Akatsuki are back and we need you to help defend the village. Without you, Hinata won't have somewhere to come back to. Look I'm sorry but we really need you back." Sasuke said.

"I can't. I had promised her that I wouldn't leave her here alone. I think that she's finally considering coming back. I can't leave because she will think that I was lying to get her back and once she was I would dump her. I'm really sorry guys, I just can't." Naruto said.

While they were talking, Hinata came out of nowhere and said "Hey Sakura, Sasuke. I didn't know that you would be here. How is everything?" as she was speaking she went to Naruto and put her arms around his waist, leaning against his chest.

"Everything isn't that great at home. The Akatsuki are planning to attack Konohagakure and we need Naruto there to help protect it." said Sasuke.

When he finished Hinata took her arms from Naruto's waist and shook her head while saying "I knew that they were right. I've got to go, I'm sorry." after she said that she ran from the clearing toward the village.

After she was gone Naruto said "I knew that she would think that. I've got to go talk to her."

"We need you back Naruto, please come back. I'm really sorry about Hinata but you need to head back now." Sasuke said while Sakura chased after Hinata.

"That's easy for you to say Sasuke. You have Sakura…I don't have Hinata believing me yet. She still thinks that I don't really love her. Now I bet that I'm right back to where I started unless I chase after her."

"Naruto‒"

"You don't understand, Sasuke. Sakura believes you and trusts you. She will never leave you and she believes that you won't leave her. Hinata doesn't think that, I won't leave her ever but she doesn't believe me. You are so lucky; I wish that Hinata was like she used to be. Like when we were genin because then she would believe me and trust me. I love the fact that she's so strong and all but I hate that she doesn't trust me."

"Naruto, I understand what you're going through."

"That's just it, you don't know! You've always had the girl, when I've been trying to get her for months. Trying to get Hinata to trust me again and all it took for you was some words and Sakura was in your arms. Everything comes easy to you while it's the opposite with me."

"I get it but we really need you back with the village, or it will surely be destroyed."

While they were arguing, Sakura caught up with Hinata before she reached the village. When Sakura caught Hinata she asked "Why did you run off like that?"

"I knew that his promise was a lie. He's going back to the village with you and Sasuke. Leaving me here alone. I can't believe I was starting to believe what he said. I'm such an idiot."

"You want to know something? I still don't really trust that Sasuke will stay in the village. But I'm taking the risk and believing that he won't leave me again. If you ever want to be happy then you need to take that risk with Naruto because if you don't then you won't ever be happy. Love is a risky business but there is one thing that I do know, it's that he loves you. Like he never loved me or anyone."

"I'm sorry but I don't believe that. I just can't believe what he says."

"Why? What is stopping you from believing him?"

"Everything just doesn't add up. Why would he stop loving you in the first place and why did he choose me next? I'm just his last choice. Explain that to me." Hinata said while glaring at Sakura.

"I think that he gave up on me because he found someone else. Because he found you instead. He loves you more now, more than he loved me back then. Did you know he was arguing about going back because he didn't want to leave you here?"

"Really? He was arguing about going back?"

"Yes, remember when the village was in danger, he used to run to the villages danger and battle until he won? Now he's arguing against going back and leaving you here alone. He was trying to keep his promise to you."

"I just can't really trust him."

"If you can't trust him, then trust me. Please come back with us. You can see for yourself if he leaves you when you go back. If he does actually leave you, then you can come back here and I won't let him come back to here."

"Are you sure that you will do that for me? The thing is I just don't want to be hurt by him; if I am hurt then I don't think I could be the same."

"I know what you mean. Just take a risk and come back with us."

"I'll think about it. Just give me ten minutes and I'll give you my decision."

"Take as long as you need. You'll know where to find me."

When Naruto heard that Hinata is considering coming back with them, he tried to go and find her to convince her but Sakura wouldn't let him. She told him that Hinata needed ten minutes to think about it.

As soon as she came within their sight Naruto asked "Are you coming back with us?"

She took a deep breath before answering "Yes, I'll come back but I'm not promising that I'll stay. I just want to see everyone again."

Naruto ran to her and hugged her tightly against his chest before kissing her lips. After he pulled away they headed back to the village. When she entered the village she went up to Tsunade and apologized for leaving like that.

"It's fine Hinata. No one here blames you for that. We're all just glad that you came back. Welcome home. Sorry about the reason that you're back."

"It's fine."

As she left Tsunade's office she got hugged by her sister and cousin, when they let her go she said "I'm sorry that I made you guys worry about me. I didn't think that anyone would miss me when I was gone."

"Are you kidding me? Everyone missed you, especially Naruto. He mopped around the village and wouldn't talk to anyone for a while. Lord Hiashi missed you also." Neji said.

"Father missed me? I thought that he was embarrassed by me."

"He was until you started growing, in strength and confidence. When you were gone he realized that you had changed and wasn't weak anymore. That you were worthy to be a Hyuga after all. That he was wrong for believing that you weren't." Hanabi explained.

When Hinata got to the Hyuga compound she saw her father standing there smiling at her. Something that she had never seen before and as she walked up he hugged her while saying how sorry he was and that she was a Hyuga.

"Thank you Father that means a lot coming from you." she said after a second.

"Have you gotten any stronger while you were at the other village?"

"Yes, I even learned some medical ninjutsu. I perfected my rotation and 64 palms techniques."

"Really? Could you go to the practice field later and show me how much you have improved? After you've seen everyone."

"I'd love to Father. I'll see you in two hours."

After she left her family's household she headed for Kurenai's house to see if she was okay. When Kurenai saw her she hugged Hinata close while saying "I'm so glad that you came back home. How have you been?"

"I've been getting more confidence and stronger while I was away but that doesn't make up for turning my back on my home."

"I think that it is great that you are back now. I'm so glad that you're stronger. Have you seen Kiba or Shino yet?"

"No I came from my father. I also saw Tsunade and she's letting me continue from where I left off as a jônin. I also think that in a month I can achieve anbu black op level. I'll see you later."

"Okay, bye!" Kurenai called as Hinata walked away.

While on the way to Kiba's house she ran into Naruto, he laughed while holding her up from falling down. When she was balanced he said "In a rush there? You should look where you're going."

"Thanks, I'm sorry for leaving."

"You don't need to apologize. That's my job. I'm sorry that I didn't ask you out on a date sooner. So…will you go out with me?"

"Let me think about it for a day. I'll tell you tomorrow." Hinata teased.

"If that is what you want, I'm fine with waiting."

"Or you can have my answer now?"

"Are you going to keep me waiting forever? Or are you going to tell me now?"

"Yes."  
"Yes you're going to date me, or yes you're going to keep me waiting? I really hope that it's the first one and not the second."

"Yes, I'll go out with you. Sorry about the mixed meanings just then. I was joking around when I said I needed to wait. I have been waiting for I don't know how long to hear those words from you." she said while laughing.

Instead of answering her, Naruto smiled before kissing her cheek and grabbing her hand. Hinata pulled him toward Kiba's house so that she could talk to him about something. When she got there Akamaru ran at her and knocked her to the ground.

"Akamaru! Don't you ever just wag your tail at me instead of jumping? I'm happy to see you too now get off me!" Hinata said, laughing and accepting Naruto's out stretched hand. After she was on her feet again Kiba came up and hugged her.

"I didn't know that you were back again. When did you get back?"

"About an hour ago. Do you know why he always does that to me?"

"He just missed you so much. It doesn't matter if he hadn't seen you in ten minutes or five months he still blows you down. Why did you decide to come back? What happened to change your mind?"

"I missed everyone here too much and I wanted to date Naruto freely. At the other village it would have been in secret. Also, who else would keep you and Shino safe?"

"Ha-ha, very funny. Well, I'm glad that you came back. Have you seen Shino yet?"

"I was going to see him after you."

"I guess that I'll see you later, Hinata. Bye."

"Good-bye Kiba, I'm sorry about leaving."

"Its fine I'm just glad that you decided to come back."

After she saw everyone, Naruto dragged her to the forest and they sat down for a while. At some point Naruto reached his hand up and cupped her cheek while saying "I still can't believe that you came back home."

"Neither can I, Sakura has said some things to me that helped convince me to come back."

"What did she say?"

"She told me that she didn't really trust Sasuke not to leave the village again but she decided to take the risk and that love is a risky business. That I needed to take a risk with you even if it leaves me broken, she also said that if you left me I could go back to the other village and she wouldn't let you go and bother me, like you did this time." Hinata said while leaning into his hand.

"Well, you don't have to worry about that happening. I will never leave you unless you want me to."

"I have to go to the training fields to meet Father."

"Can I walk you there?"

"Sure, I wouldn't mind that."

As she went to stand up she tripped over a root and landed against his chest, when she landed against his chest Naruto's arms caught her and held her there. She then turned and stood on her toes to kiss his lips for a minute before pulling away. After she pulled away she murmured something that he couldn't understand.

"What did you say? And thank you for that, usually you never kiss me. Why did you kiss me just then?"

"We hadn't kissed in a while, so I kissed you. Did I do something wrong?"

"You did nothing wrong. I was just surprised that you kissed me."

"Are we going to the practice field or not? I don't want to be late for Father."

"Okay, come on then."

When they got there, Lord Hiashi was standing next to the stump where Naruto was tied as a genin during that first test. He had ninjatos and extra kunais. As Hinata walked up without Naruto her father said "Thanks for coming. What do you want to start first?"

"I was thinking of showing you my rotation then 64 palms also, my new technique, which I came up with. It reminded me of rotation but with a better defense."

Hinata practiced with her father for about three hours until he said that he was satisfied with how much she grew while away from the village.

"You did great Hinata. I'm kind of glad that we didn't practice at the other village, I would have been beaten badly." Naruto said after her practice with her father.

"Thanks. What do you want to do?"

"I was thinking that we could get some ramen. Is that okay with you?"

"I think I can go with you. I bet that you missed eating ramen, like every day when we were at the other village."

"You're right; I can't believe that there wasn't any ramen there. It was horrible; I didn't think that it was possible."

"I know and I missed the leaf village a lot. I hadn't been able to come back, though. I just hadn't been ready to face my fear or leave somewhere I was accepted and visible."

"I'm really sorry about that. I'm just really relieved that you came back with us."

"Sorry."

"Why do you keep apologizing to me? None of it was your fault. How about we stop talking about this? It's in the past we can't do anything about it."

"I can agree about that. Let's go get some ramen." Hinata said.

As they were walking to the shop, Naruto's hand reached out and took Hinata's. When she noticed that his hand had hers, she blushed while smiling at him. After they ate Hinata said "Thank you for that. I should probably go home."

"I'll walk you there." He said while reaching out and taking her hand.

"Do you remember when Sakura said the Akatsuki were coming?"

"Sometime this week I think. I need to ask you something." He said hesitantly, thinking about how he was going to ask her.

"What do you want to ask me?"

"When the Akatsuki come here, could you please be careful? They aren't to be underestimated. Stay away from them if they come at you."

"I'll be fine, Naruto. I've battled them before, and I'm still here to tell people about it."

"When have you battled them? Just please don't go looking for them when they come."

"They came to the village looking for someone and when we wouldn't give the person up, they attacked. I battled Konan. She went back with some wounds."

"Please, promise me?"

"All right, fine. I promise I will be careful. What about you? Will you be careful?"

"I'll try but I think that they will attack me with everything they have."

"How about I help you? You would defeat them easier if I help."

Over the course of the week, the Konoha village and its citizens were getting ready for the impending attack. Hinata and Naruto were helping with the weapons and practicing with the chunin, genin, and jônin. While their village did that, Konan was at the women's village hiring the best fighters to help the Akatsuki with destroying Konoha and capturing Naruto.

"Well? Do we have a deal Yori?" Konan asked after a second.

"I think that we do. But, I need a favor."

"What is it?"

"We need someone else captured also. There is a certain kunoichi that we need to get back. Her name is Hyuga Hinata."

"Why do you need her to be captured?"

"She was the best kunoichi here and our missions never had a problem until Naruto came and took her back to their village. Now missions are turning out horribly. When you kill Naruto, she won't have a reason to be at the other village and she'll come back to us."

"All right, we'll capture her for you as long as we have your best fighters taking care of the shinobi, chunin or jônin."

|-{-|-{-|-}-|-}-|

**A/N: sorry about not updating in a loooonnnng time. i kept forgetting my pindrive whenever i got to a computer with the internet. thanks to the people for reviewing and i hope you will review again. thanks for reading this. any reviews are welcome. **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: hello readers, sorry for not updating sooner. thank you so much for reviewing. i hope you guys like this next chapter and plz review. **

|-{-|-{-|-}-|-}-|

"Naruto, look out!" cried Hinata. The attack from the Akatsuki was happening and she saw one of the Akatsuki throw a kunai at Naruto. As she spoke she threw herself in the path of the kunai, taking it in her arm.

"Hinata run! You can't fight them!"

"I'll be fine! Just focus on Pain! I'll go help Sakura and Sasuke!"

"Just be careful!"

When Hinata arrived next to Sakura she said "Need help? What's happening with the wounded?"

"I'm running out of chakra. Do you have any military rations pellets?"

"Here, is there anything I can help with?" as Hinata dug out a couple of pellets.

"Sasuke is fighting some kunoichi in the next street. He's having some trouble."

"All right, I'm on it. If Naruto comes by just tell him that I'm around."

As soon as Hinata was gone, Sakura went back to work on the injured. When Hinata landed next to Sasuke, he almost attacked her until he saw who it was. "Why aren't you with Naruto? He'll be worried about you."

"I told him that I was going to help you and Sakura. Where is the kunoichi that Sakura was talking about? What are her strengths and weaknesses?"

"She mainly uses genjutsu and isn't too great at taijutsu. She disappeared just before you showed up."

"Okay, I'll find her."

As Hinata activated her byakugan she saw that it was someone she recognized from her old village. She saw that it was Yuki and that she was behind Sasuke about to strike, but Hinata was there instead with a ninjato at the ready. While she blocked the strike she yelled at Sasuke to tell Sakura who she's battling and spread the news to all shinobi to look out for formidable kunoichi. After Sasuke left she asked "Why are you helping the Akatsuki attack my home? What happened when I left?"

"Yori struck a deal with Konan for our help with capturing Naruto. She also got Konan to agree with helping us capture you and bring you back. I'm sorry but I'm on orders to knock you out."

"Yuki, you can defy Yori. I'm sure that Tsunade will welcome a strong kunoichi to our village, or you could go back to your home village."

"Actually, my original village was Sunakagure and I'm sure that Gaara-sama won't want a rogue back after the last one returned."

"Sasori was part of the Akatsuki and almost killed Gaara's brother, but you haven't done anything to receive any grief."

Before Yuki could answer, Hinata was attacked by Konan and some others at once. When Hinata was knocked out Konan said "We have one person down, now all we need is that Kyuubi and we are done here. Where was the last time that anyone had seen him?"

"Two streets down and fighting Pain along with others. How are we going to get him distracted?" asked Yuki.

"I think that I have an idea. Do you think that you can put Hinata under a genjutsu? Is it possible while she's unconscious?" asked Yori.

"Yes but when she wakes up she'll realize she's under my genjutsu. I don't think that this plan would work very well." Yuki replied when Konan left.

"That's okay; I can just transform into her image and get him to lower his guard while you use a sleeping potion. All I have to do is tell him that you changed sides and was going to help me." Yori said before transforming into Hinata. As soon as she did, Karin grabbed the sleeping potion and headed off in the direction of Naruto.

"Hinata, I thought that I had told you to help Sakura and Sasuke? Why are you here again?"

"Sasuke and Sakura didn't need my help and I found Karin. She left the old village and went here to warn me about Yori and the Akatsuki! They're teaming up to catch me and you!"

"Okay…I'm fine here, have you seen Kiba or Shino or Lord Hizashi?" Naruto asked while wondering why Hinata was coming closer and why Karin was heading behind him.

"I haven't seen them, why do you ask?"

"Lord Hizashi has been dead since before you met me. Who are you and where is Hinata?" Naruto asked while moving slowly to keep his eyes on Karin.

"She's around here somewhere. Don't worry she's alive, I have need of her back where she belongs and I don't want someone else coming to take her away again. The Akatsuki is going to do that part just fine." Yori said before undoing the transformation.

"Hinata will never go back to your village ever again. I'm never leaving her alone or dumping her ever. As long as I don't leave her she will stay here with me and you can't stop that."

"I don't know why you think that you can beat me when I could easily beat Hinata and she was the best in our village while you had gotten beat by the lowest fighters there." Yori sneered.

The thing is, she didn't know that he was holding back so that he didn't harm anyone in case they were friends with Hinata or not. He didn't want Hinata mad at him or think that he would hurt her or people that she cared about. When Yori went to attack she found just air where Naruto had been and as she was about to warn Karin, she noticed that Karin was already unconscious.

"Where are you Kyuubi? Come out and play."

"Tell me where Hinata is and you will not die! Tell me now!"

"She should be on her way back to my village right about now. But you can't go because you have to defend your beloved village while I tell her some interesting things. Bye now!" she said cheerfully before disappearing.

"NO! I can't let Hinata get away! Sasuke! Where are you?"

"Naruto would you quite yelling and look behind you for one minute? Where's Hinata?"

"She was knocked unconscious and taken back to Yori's village! I have to go after her! Do you think that you could stall for a while until I get her back?" Naruto asked while handing Sasuke Karin's unconscious body. "And make sure that this kunoichi doesn't cause trouble, without killing her please."

"We need you here helping with defeating Pain. I'll go after Hinata with Kiba or someone. Don't worry we won't return without her with us."

"Fine, but if you're not back after I defeat Pain I will come after her. And don't let her believe anything that the kunoichis tell her or she won't ever come back and I can't go to her. Now leave! Find Kiba if you have to! Just find Hinata! Please!" Naruto screamed desperately. He couldn't stand the thought of losing her again, after finally getting Hinata to believe and go out with him.

"I will get her back, don't you worry!" Sasuke replied over his shoulder as he went to find Kiba and Akamaru. He was going to need all the help he could get if he was to have any chance of finding Hinata before it was too late.

As Sasuke left to find Kiba, Hinata was being carried out away from the village in the direction of Yori's village by Yuki. When she began to stir, Yuki set her down on the ground with her feet and hands tied together to stop her from escaping.

"Where am I? Why am in the leaf's forest?" Hinata asked dazed.

"I am taking you back home where you belong while Naruto is being captured by the Akatsuki so that he can't come and bother you or us again. It'll be like it was before he showed up in our village and ruined everything." Yuki said while watching Hinata's every movement. She was trying to think of a way to keep Hinata from resisting.

"So I couldn't convince you to head back to your actual home village. Didn't you have anyone that you cared about there? Anyone there that you had loved?" Hinata asked hopefully.

"There was once someone there but I know for sure that he wouldn't want to be with me." She said after a second. As soon as Yuki saw a shuriken come at her, she realized that she had made a mistake, by letting Hinata distract her for so long. Konoha shinobi were catching up to them so she knocked out Hinata again before picking up her pace and laying traps whenever she would pause.

As Kiba and Akamaru were gaining, Sasuke and Shino came up with them and Sasuke asked "Have you seen Hinata yet?"

"I saw a glimpse of her but I couldn't tell if she was awake or not. I kind of ruined it by attacking too soon and I alerted the kunoichi carrying her. I had been sure that I could wound her but she saw the star at the last second and dodged. Now she has been setting traps; whenever I and Akamaru have been getting to close to her."

"Thanks for the update. All we have to do is overtake her. It can't be that hard. Right now Naruto is busy keeping our village safe, the least we can do is get Hinata back to us and him."

"Well, we have to get going then to catch her, she is the fastest runner I have ever seen and she is also carrying Hinata."

The four had been chasing her for hours and when they finally caught her, she didn't have Hinata with her. "It took you guys long enough to catch me."

"Never had to run that fast before, you're fast but we need to get Hinata back." Sasuke said. He was getting worried when he couldn't find Hinata.

"She's safe right now, all I need to do is get my real body farther and I'll meet up with some reinforcements."

"We will never give up in trying to get her back home, mark my words. Nothing, I mean _nothing_ will keep Naruto or any leaf shinobi away from your village." Kiba growled; his words backed up from Akamaru's angry bark.

"What if Hinata doesn't want to go home again? What if she wants to be left alone?" Yuki sneered while moving to block everyone's path. She had to stall long enough so that her real body could escape with Hinata.

"Shino, head after Hinata, I'll stay and fight this doppelganger." Sasuke said.

"I'll go Shino, you stay and help Sasuke and I'll get Hinata back before Naruto is finished with Pain." Kiba said while calling to Akamaru to lead the way.

As soon as Kiba caught up to Yuki's actual body, Hinata was just waking up and heard him. She thought at first that Naruto had come and was trying to save her; she noticed after a second that this person had a very large dog. "Kiba, Akamaru! Where's Naruto?" she screamed.

"Hinata, are you okay? Are you hurt?" Kiba screamed, worried about her welfare. He was surprised about how desperate he ran and screamed. Kiba realized with a jolt that he liked Hinata more than a friend, as he caught up to them he saw that she wasn't hurt. "If you don't release her, I will kill you!"

"I'm so sure that will happen. Why don't you attack me? Where is Naruto? Her love, why isn't he rescuing the person he _loves_?" Yuki sneered.

"Kiba, where is he? Where is Naruto? I thought that he wouldn't leave me. Why isn't he here?" Hinata cried.

"Don't listen to her, Hinata! Naruto would have come but he's fighting desperately against Pain so that he can come to you. Sasuke convinced him to stay and fight so that there was a place for you to return to." Kiba explained, while pain shot through his heart seeing Hinata scared and hurt.

"I doubt that. I told you Hinata, I told you that Naruto doesn't really care about you. He was just using you to get what he wanted."

"Hinata, listen to me. You know Naruto isn't like that, I know Naruto isn't like that. He really cares about you, more than you would probably ever know." Kiba said, trying to reason with the side of Hinata that believed Naruto.

"I…I'm not sure that I can believe what you're saying. If Naruto really loves me, then why isn't he doing everything he can to get me back?"

"He _is_ doing everything to get you back. I _know_ he wouldn't leave someone like you."

"Listen here. Sounds like someone likes Lady Hinata as more than a friend." Sneered Yuki, thinking that she could surprise Kiba enough to wound or knock him out. Yuki was stopped by a menacing growl that alerted Kiba of what she was trying to do.

As he noticed that, he sent Akamaru after her so that he could get to Hinata. But she backed away from him while shaking her head and crying. She was starting to believe Yuki about what she said about Naruto. "I'm sorry Kiba but I can't go back to Naruto. Tell him that we're through. I can't believe that I had believed he loved me. Yuki and Yori were right about him and all guys. Come on Yuki, let's go home."

"I'm glad to hear that Hinata. And Kiba, don't follow us. It won't end pretty if you do. I suggest that you start to think about how you're going to tell Naruto that Hinata dumped him."

"I'll find you and kill you; mark my words I will kill you."

"Good luck."

As soon as Kiba, Shino, and Sasuke walked into the village, Naruto came up and asked them where Hinata was. When Kiba told him what happened, Naruto wouldn't believe it; he tried to go out into the forest to see where she was. As Kiba's words finally sunk in he went to the nearest tree and punched it in half but it didn't cure his pain. After the tree fell he wanted to rush off and convince Hinata to come back but Kiba stopped him.

"She decided not to come back on her own. I'm sorry that I couldn't get her back."

"It's okay; I know you tried your hardest. I'm kind of glad that you didn't bring her back against her will."

"I would never do that to someone."

"I know and neither would I; right now I just need to think of a way to get her back home. I can't believe that she thought I left her. How could she think that?"

"Yuki had planted that thought in her mind and the more she thought the more she accepted the reason. Yuki knew exactly how Hinata would react if she thought that you weren't trying to get her back and she twisted my words to her advantage."

"Its fine, I know that it's my fault that Hinata isn't back. I'm going to go and get her back."

"Naruto, you need permission from Lady Fifth." Kiba reminded him.

"Fine, I'll run by there and ask her but she better not let me wait for a month."

As soon as he barged into the door, Tsunade said "Yes you can go, just get two more people to head out with you. I suggest Kiba and Hanabi or Sakura."

"Yes ma'am."

|-{-|-{-|-}-|-}-|


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: hi everyone. sorry about how long it's been. here's a new chapter and just to tell you its one of the short ones. sorry about that. hope you like it and please review.**

**disclaimer: i own nothing but the plot and oc's**

|-{-|-{-|-}-|-}-|

Naruto got Sakura and Kiba to head out with him and when he got to Yori's village he saw that Hinata wasn't anywhere near the outside of the village. He suspected that they wouldn't let her out in case the same thing as last time happened again. That he would convince her to come back with him.

"Naruto, we need to get someone in there, someone that they don't recognize. Someone that Hinata would recognize."

"Who would that be? Who haven't they seen?" Naruto asked; he could see Hinata's old house or at least the one that she had before she came back.

"I'm not sure. They have seen me, Ino, Hanabi, and Tenten."

"Then we need someone from another village or something. How about we get a sand shinobi?"

"That would take more than six days." Naruto argued.

"I know but what if I transform into Temari? That could work; I've known her for years so I think I can act like her."

"I think that it might work. Let's try it or we can wait and see if they send her on a mission."

"We'll try this first before we wait."

After they finally decided what they were going to do, Sakura headed into the town. "Hello? Where is the leader of this village?"

"I'm Yori and this is Hinata and Yuki."

"Temari? Is that you? Where is Kankuro?"

"He's back at Suna. How are you?" Temari (Sakura) asked.

"I'm fine, just wondering why you are here. Did anything happen there?" Yuki asked worried about Kankuro.

"Nothing, I was sent here to check some things out for Gaara. Could someone show me around?"

"I'll do it. That's about all I can do for now." Hinata said, while staring pointedly at Yori.

"That's fine with me." Yori said.

As soon as Hinata led Sakura away she said "Hinata, it's me, Sakura."

"I thought that you said I would be left alone here? If Naruto left me I would have been left alone here by him or any Konoha shinobi."

"That was _if_ he left you, he hasn't left you. He was defending the village and couldn't try to rescue you when you were taken. He's here now, actually, still trying to get you home again."

"I don't want to see him. I don't care how much he bugs me, I'm not going back. I don't care what happens to Konoha now. The village could be destroyed for all I care."

"I know you don't actually mean that. You love the leaf village and would never let it be destroyed."

"Watch me. You don't know how I feel right now. How would you feel if you were taken and Sasuke didn't come running to your rescue? If he sent his friends after you to get you back home instead of going himself?"

"I wouldn't care as long as he was still alive, or couldn't come after me."

"Well, that's where the two of us are different. Please don't try and persuade me in this matter. I don't care what you say; it's not going to change my mind. I'm not going back there. Tell Naruto what I said and warn him that I don't want to see him no matter what." Hinata said with steel in her voice.

"Fine, just remember that week that you spent while in the village. I bet it was one of the best weeks in your life. You had your childhood crush dating you, all your friends were happy, and you were finally accepted as a Hyuga. Please just reconsider your decision about never going back home."

"This is my home now Sakura. Nothing is going to change that." Hinata said while glaring at Sakura, reminding her to tell Naruto what she said.

"I guess that I'll see you later with his reply." Sakura said hesitantly, and walking away she grimaced at what his reaction was going to be.

"Are you _sure_ she said that? Did you hear her wrong?"

"Naruto, I'm sure that she said she wasn't ever going back. And I mean _ever_. I've never seen Hinata that mad at someone or something. She looked like she would kill you if she saw you. I'm really sorry Naruto, but she seems really upset that you didn't come after her."

"I tried to go but Sasuke and the others wouldn't let me. He promised me that he would bring Hinata back to me. I can't believe that she said that and meant it. That doesn't sound like Hinata at all."

"Naruto, I think that she changed when she thought that you didn't love her. She even told me this would happen to her if you ever left her and that's exactly the thing that she believes. Hinata fully believes that you have left her; all we need to do is convince her otherwise. What are her favorite activities? Favorite flowers, movie, anything."

"Her favorite flower is a red lily. I remember it because she told me that was the flower that her and her mother used to plant when she was still alive. Hinata's old boyfriend used to give them to her as an apology to keep her with him."

"_Okay_… all we have to do is try to get her away from the village so that you can show her how much you love her. If I remember correctly, there is a clearing not too far away that is filled with all sorts of flowers. I bet she would love it if you showed her the clearing as an apology." Sakura said in a rush, picturing Naruto and Hinata in the clearing.

"How are we going to manage this? I mean, aren't they keeping her within the boundary of the village so that she can't see anyone who would take her away again?"

"They are but if I convince her to leave I think that she would. Only if it would mean that I wouldn't bother her ever again so if it doesn't work then we need to leave her here and hope she comes back on her own." Sakura said hesitantly, scared about Naruto's reaction to this.

"All right, fine. If this is the only way, then I guess we have to go with this plan. Just give me a couple of hours to think of what I should do when she gets here. And where is this clearing?"

"About twenty meters northeast of here, you won't miss it. Trust me this will be perfect."

"I'll go with you, Naruto." Kiba said. He wanted to help no matter what to get Hinata back home where she belonged.

"Thanks Kiba, I bet that you can find the clearing without any problems."

"How about we do this in a week so that they trust her again and let her outside the village without an escort."

"I agree and I think that you should too, Naruto. I know you want her back but we need to wait."

"Fine, I'll wait one week."

|-{-|-{-|-}-|-}-|


	7. Chapter 7

|-{-|-{-|-}-|-}-|

A week later, Sakura was leading Hinata to the clearing and as soon as Hinata entered the clearing, Sakura gave her an excuse and left her there.

"Sakura? Where are you?"

"Hello, Hinata. It's been a while since I saw you last. How have you been?"

"I've been _great_ since you left me. Now show yourself, _Naruto_. I thought that I told Sakura that I didn't want to see you again. I know what you're going to say."

"Really? Why don't you tell me exactly what I'm going to say? Since you know so much about me" he said sarcastically, while stepping out of the shadows.

"You're going to tell me that you didn't leave me, that you were defending the village from Pain so you couldn't chase after me. That you wish you could convince me that you still love me and for me to go back to Konoha with you; also for me to forget how much pain you have caused me. But I can't go back, I can't forget, and I can't believe you no matter how much you try."

"Why don't you look around us? Please, rethink about what you said and experienced. I love you and I will always love you for the rest of my life. If you don't then I will regret what happened here for the rest of my life and I hope that you will be happy away from your family and friends." He said while walking to Hinata and bringing up his hand to gently stroke her cheek. Hinata automatically leaned into his hand before jumping back five feet.

"Good-bye Naruto, I'm leaving and I want you to know something. I've moved on so I think that you should move on too. I don't want to see you ever again so please don't follow me."

"…Hinata…how can I change your mind about me?"

"You can't and thank you for showing me this clearing. I didn't know that you knew I loved lilies, especially red ones. How did you find this place?"

"Sakura found it the first time that you guys came here. What do you mean, you moved on? When did this happen?"

"Just recently and you need to leave before someone comes looking for me. If they find you then you definitely will be killed, there is an order to kill you at first sight. No matter how much I hate you, I can't let them kill you. Tsunade would kill me if I just stood by and let you die." she said while picking one of the lilies. When she did that, Naruto came up to her and laid his hand on her shoulder. Hinata grabbed his hand and tried to flip him over her shoulder but he reversed the momentum at the last second. She looked up from the ground and saw Naruto staring at her with a loved filled gaze before sitting down next to her.

"Naruto let me leave. I need to go back to the village."

"Please stay a little longer. I don't want you to leave just yet. I can't let go of you yet, when I leave I will leave you alone, for good this time. I just want you to know, if you ever change your mind, you'll know where I am. I'll always be there for you also. I'm sorry." with that being said, he leaned over and kissed her lips in farewell. As soon as she opened her eyes, he was nowhere in sight.

"I'm so sorry Naruto. I never meant to hurt you, I never actually thought that I would get you, but Sakura will forever remain in your heart. I'm just second best compared to her." Hinata whispered to no one in particular.

When Naruto came back to his camp, Kiba and Sakura both asked him if Hinata was heading back. Instead of saying anything he just shook his head while packing up his things and leaving in the direction of their village with a red lily in his hand.

|-{-|-{-|-}-|-}-|


	8. Chapter 8

**a/n: i decided to be nice and update as soon as i could with 2 new chapters. thank you so much for reviewing and reading my story. i hope you like these chapters and review when you are finished.**

|-{-|-{-|-}-|-}-|

Three years later, Hinata was walking through the remains of Yori's village after the attack from Sunakagure. They had become a problem to the five great shinobi nations so they were dealt with by the one closest to them. When Gaara had recognized Hinata he called off his shinobi and told her "Surrender if you want to live another day, Lady Hinata. I won't harm you because you are Naruto's friend if I remember correctly but if you try and hurt one of my fellow Suna shinobi, I will have you killed."

"I understand. Do you know a kunoichi by the name of Yuki?"

"Yes, she and Kankuro used to date when she still remained in Suna but one day she just disappeared and we couldn't find her."

"_Well…_ she kind of ended up in this village before I came here. She's was on a mission for this corpse right here. She'll be back sometime this week."

"Why didn't she come back to Suna, what kept her here?" Kankuro asked. He was standing behind Gaara but heard everything.

"I'm not sure, one time when I asked her she said that Gaara wouldn't want a rogue shinobi back in his village and she didn't have anyone there to go back to. I'm sorry Kankuro." Hinata could see how this news upset him. She realized that he loved Yuki but thought that Yuki didn't love him back. "She loves you Kankuro, more than you know."

"How do you know that?"

"Let's just say that she told me a while ago. How is the leaf village?"

"You don't know; do you?" Gaara asked

"What don't I know? All of my connections to Konoha were severed about three years ago. My ties to Konoha were severed when Naruto walked out of my life."

"Naruto is the Hokage and the leaf has been in a war against sound and class S rogues for the last year. How come he left? That doesn't sound like Naruto."

"It's a little complicated, I think that he should explain it to you when you see him again. Now what am I going to do? My home for the past three years has been destroyed and I can't go back to Konoha. I guess that I'll just have to find a new place."

"Wait, why can't you go back to Konoha? What happened to you to make you leave?"

"I don't want to talk about it Temari. I don't want to remember what happened to me and Naruto. You'll just have to ask him yourself. I guess that I might see you guys later and sorry about all of this mess."

"Its fine, Lady Hinata and I hope you find someplace to live. Come on Temari, Kankuro. We need to report back to Konoha about what happened here."

"Yes, Lord Kazekage. We're right behind you." Temari replied to Gaara; while grabbing Kankuro's arm and leaving right behind Gaara.

"I really hope that they don't mention our conversation to Naruto." Hinata said to empty air.

Back at the village hidden in the leaves, Naruto was pacing his office back and forth while Sakura tried in vain to get him to calm down.

"I will _not_ calm down until I hear word back from Suna about that village. I need to know if she has survived all of these years or if she wasn't there." Naruto growled and continued to pace his office in irritation.

"The least you can do, is stop this incessant pacing, that's not going to help anyone. You need to figure out how we're going to survive the next attack." Sakura said. She was worried about what the villagers were going to react to see their idol so unnerved about the attacks; it would crush them to see him so worried.

"Fine, I'll sit down but as soon as Gaara is here I want to speak with him. AAH! Where did you come from? You scared the crud out of me Lord Kazekage. Ever heard of knocking?" Naruto asked when Gaara appeared in his office in a swirl of sand.

"You're one to talk Naruto! How was the mission Lord Kazekage." Sakura said irritably.

"It went fine and we saw Hyuga Hinata. She surrendered so we didn't hurt her but we let her on her way when we were done. I could tell that no matter what I said she wasn't coming back here. Lady Hinata was surprised to hear that you have been attacked this past year." Gaara said calmly while judging Naruto's reactions.

"She wouldn't have received word because I stopped writing to her quite some time ago when she wouldn't write back. I remember her telling Sakura here that she didn't care if the village was destroyed."

"She told us that much, I'm really sorry though. It seemed as if she _was_ worried about Konoha when she heard the news. I thought that mentioning that would bring her back but after a second her expression hardened and I knew she wasn't coming back." Gaara said calmly. He could tell how much his report hurt Naruto but Naruto needed to hear this for his own good. Hinata wasn't coming back no matter what and he couldn't go out himself to find her. He had his own problems to deal with.

"Sakura, could you please tell team Kurenai that Hinata's not coming back, along with her family? I don't think that I can face them after this last time."

"Yes Lord Hokage. And Naruto? I'm really sorry about this." Sakura said reluctantly.

"Its fine, I'll be fine. I have to watch out for this village first. I just hope that they don't get too mad at me for failing a third time."

"You've tried your best Naruto. There's just nothing else you can do about her." Gaara said after Sakura left the room.

"I know; I just had hoped that she had changed her mind after all of these years. I have missed her so much that sometimes I can't stand knowing that she still out there, probably loves someone else."

"She didn't seem to love someone else when I talked to her. I'm just sorry that she didn't come back but after this I'll help you find her and bring her back."

"Thanks for the offer but I think I'm going to let her decide to come back on her own. I can't force her back no matter how much I want to. It would just drive us further apart. So did you find the kunoichi that you were looking for?"

"Hinata told us that she was on a mission for the leader and would be back sometime this week. I have shinobi posted around the area so when she comes back I'll be alerted and can talk to her. What if she could convince Hinata to come back?"

"I don't know, how about we focus on the next attack that'll come within the next two days? We need more shinobi patrolling and more military rations pellets sent out through the medics to replenish their chakra levels during the attack."

"I'll send that through my ranks and you do that for yours. And again I'm sorry that she didn't come back with us."

"As I told Sakura, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me. I'll see you later."

"If you say so, I'll just leave you to your paperwork."

Konoha was attacked the very next day, after the battle both sides had huge casualties before Naruto and Gaara finally drove the enemy back into the forest. As soon as the battle was over they took off to check who was dead and who survived that brutal attack. Naruto saw that the bulk of the rookie twelve was still standing except Hinata and Tenten. Naruto soon saw Neji carrying Tenten to Sakura to check out a wound that she had. Sakura soon sent Tenten on her way with Neji before addressing Naruto about the rest of the medical corps.

"We lost about twenty medical shinobi and ten more are wounded pretty badly. We won't survive another attack of this caliber."

"I know, let me think for a couple of minutes. So far, Orochimaru hasn't made any demands on what he wants from us. I just think that he wants to eradicate the leaf village once and for all."

"That's what I've been thinking. I've also been thinking of a way to reach the old Hinata."

"Sakura…now is not the time to be talking about this. I'm fine with waiting for her to come back on her own." Naruto was taken back. He didn't expect that Sakura would bring that subject up when they were recovering from the worst attack yet.

"Lord Hokage, it's been three years since the last time you have seen her. I don't think that she's coming on her own. We need to try and persuade her to come back."

"Neji I tried that and it didn't work. Right now we need to focus on defeating Orochimaru so that she has a home to come back to." Naruto reasoned.

"I never thought that you would be this serious about anything in your life. And I'm not going to give up on Lady Hinata, any time soon." Neji said.

"Are you guys talking about a way to get Hinata back?" Kiba asked as the rest of the rookie twelve came up, hearing Hinata's name.

"We need to _focus_ on the attack against our village before we think about ways to get back a single kunoichi who hasn't been home in almost four years. I'm sorry guys but we need to remember that we're defending our _home_. I want to get her back as much as any of you but I know when to focus on it or when to set it aside." Naruto told everyone. They could all see how much this was beating him up inside to put the village's needs in front of his own and leave Hinata out there.

"We're sorry Naruto. We're just worried about her and we miss her so much." Neji said.

"Its fine, don't worry about it. We _are_ going to get her back or I'm going to drag her back here. I know that she's missing everyone here; I don't even care if she hates me, and I just want her back home where she belongs."

"I'm going to go help out the rest of the medical corps; do you want to come with me Sakura?" Ino asked, seeing that Naruto needed to be alone.

"Sure, could the rest of you see if you can carry the wounded to the tents?" Sakura asked catching on to what Ino was trying to do.

"Yeah, we'll see you later Lord Sixth." Lee said.

"You guys know you can call me Naruto. It just feels weird when you call me Hokage or Lord Sixth, Lee…"

"Sorry, but it's also weird from our side you know." Neji told him.

"I got to go guys, I'll see you later. There are some things I need to think about." Naruto said.

"We understand and if you need to talk I'll be there for you, all you have to do is ask." Sasuke said.

"I just might take you up on that offer someday, baka." Naruto said jokingly. He always loved to tease Sasuke and the others.

Over the next week, Konoha had been attacked a total of four times, each attack worse than before. Finally after the last attack Naruto had enough, he needed to end this war and he had one crazy idea that just might work. All he had to do was run it by Shikamaru and Gaara, his two level headed advisers, when he finally told them Shikamaru said "You know; this just might actually work. How did you come up with this?"

"I'm not sure. I was just thinking about some things when it suddenly popped into my head."

"Let's put this plan into action right away if we have any hope of defeating Orochimaru and his followers." Shikamaru said before standing and heading out of the tent. He headed in the direction of the mess tent to inform those who are involved.

Once he reached the tent, Temari came out and asked "Is the plan going to work? What do you think about it?"

"I think it's going to work and we need the best shinobi of your village to help out. And make sure that your brother prepare his Crow marinate to look like Kabuto."

"Yes, I'll go do that right now. When does everyone need to be ready?"

"In about three hours we will make this plan into action. I'll see you at the east gate with everyone else. First I have to gather all the medics and most powerful shinobi."

As the village was preparing for the attack, Hinata was being captured by Kabuto to take back to Orochimaru for questioning and possibly to their advantage.

"Well, well, well, welcome Miss Hyuga to my humble hideout. I thought that you would be highly protected by your family and in the village. What are you doing away from the village all alone?" Orochimaru purred. "Aren't you the heir to the Hyuga clan?"

"Yes, I was. I'm not anymore, and the reason I'm away from the village is my business. I'd rather not tell a snake my intentions. Now, if you'll excuse me I'll be on my way." Hinata said with as much courage as she could muster.

"I'm sorry Lady Hyuga but you can't leave. We need you as a bargaining chip against the leaf village. We need someone to make sure that we will win and you are just the person that we were hoping for. You see, Naruto hasn't been letting anyone outside the village without an entire squad with them and just as we were about to give up on this plan but then we saw you walking through our area." Kabuto explained.

"And I had to just persuade Kabuto to go and fetch you here. Now we have everything we need to destroy the village for good. And we might even be able to destroy Suna as a bonus since they have sent all of their best shinobi to help Konoha leaving their village defenseless, especially if I kill their precious Kazekage." Orochimaru said while smiling like a snake, ensnaring Hinata with his eyes, rooting her to her spot.

"I'm not going to help you destroy my former home. No one there cares about me anymore anyway. I had severed my ties there over three years ago; sorry but I don't think you're plan is going‒" Hinata was cut off by the cold steal against her throat.

"_I know that this plan is going to work!_ I have information about a certain Hokage's plans on after they 'survive' this war. He has been planning on bringing a certain kunoichi who was the Hyuga clan's missing heir home."

"That's a lie, I don't care who told you but _that's a lie!_ I know what I'm talking about." Hinata growled, trying not to get her hopes up from what Orochimaru was trying to tell her. She had thought that she had strengthened her heart, changed it into stone and ice but she was just fooling herself. Hinata still loved Naruto and if he asked her to come back, she was afraid that she would follow him home just to get hurt again.

"It seems like you have struck a nerve, Lord Orochimaru. I think we have found a perfect hostage that Naruto would do anything to have back."

"Prepare Miss Hyuga to be detained the entire time and try and figure out her byakugan. I'm thinking that it would come in handy soon."

"Yes, sir, right away."

"NO! You are _NOT_ taking my byakugan away from me! I won't LET you take away my heritage and fighting ability." Hinata screamed at them.

"I don't think you have any say in this. Make sure that she isn't too uncomfortable during the procedure Kabuto."

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru." Kabuto replied before dragging Hinata out of the chamber.

About twenty minutes later, Hinata saw Kabuto walk into the room they had put her in with a scalpel and a jar. Under close inspection she noticed that there were some human eyes in there, once she saw that she growled "You are NOT going to take away my byakugan! I won't let you take it."

"I'm afraid that you don't have a choice in this matter. I am going to keep my promise to Orochimaru and not torture you through this. You're not going to feel a thing when I remove them."

"Like that is supposed to make me feel better."

After she said that, Kabuto moved to knock her unconscious; but not before, cutting a thin line across her eye lids. When he slid the razor sharp scalpel across her eye lids to cut a thin line and severing the connection of her eyes to her brain, she cried out in pain, before Kabuto could knock her out there was an enormous explosion. As the dust cleared Kabuto was summoned to Orochimaru with instructions to bring Hinata.

After the leaf and sand shinobi detonated all of the paper bombs they were about rush into the hideout when Kiba heard Akamaru give a curious bark. As Kiba heard this he shouted to Neji "Come here! I need you real quick."

"What do you need Kiba?" Neji asked as he drew near.

"Could you look into the hideout and see if you recognize the people in there. Akamaru caught the scent of someone familiar but he can't name them."

"All right, if you say so. Byakugan!"

"What do you see?" Naruto had heard what was going on so he walked up to see what Neji saw.

"Right now I see, Orochimaru, Kabuto, and someone else in a large chamber just inside. Wait a second! I think that it's Lady Hinata! Yes that is her, I detect her chakra; Orochimaru has a kunai against her throat holding her against him." Neji exclaimed.

"What? What is Hinata doing here? Why is he with Hinata?" Naruto yelled.

"I don't know! It seems that she's his hostage or a deal went bad or something. The only thing I know is that her eyes are closed and she looks like she's in pain. We need to get there _now_. How long will it be until we can get a squad down there?"

"After hearing this news, it'll be in seconds if I have something to say. Sakura, Shikamaru, Gaara! We need to get in there as soon as possible!"

"What's happened? Why are you so desperate?" Gaara asked as the others came up with him.

"Neji has seen inside Orochimaru's place and saw Hinata being held hostage. Our plan has to be changed just a little bit. I want us to get Hinata out alive and then torture Orochimaru for taking her."

"Calm down here for a second Naruto. Are you sure that it's Hinata and not someone transformed into her?" Sakura said; she didn't want this to be a false hope like the last time.

"Neji said that it was her chakra and not someone else's. I need her out and I want Orochimaru to pay for doing this."

"We will get her out but we need to kill Orochimaru. I'm sorry but we can't afford to lose time, we all need him dead as quickly as possible." Gaara reasoned.

"All right fine but we _are_ going to get Hinata back!" he growled as his eyes slowly changed to red, revealing how angry he is.

"Naruto, control your anger or you might place Hinata in danger! We need you calm to do this." Sakura said while placing her hand on his shoulder. She noticed that at the mention of Hinata his eyes slowly turned back to deep blue.

"How long until I can go in there?" Naruto asked once he was calm again.

"About five minutes should be fine. We need to get enough shinobi ready to take on Orochimaru." Sakura answered.

"All right but as soon as we can go in I'll be the first person in there. I need to find out why Hinata is here and if Orochimaru has planned something to do to her." Naruto growled while stalking out of the tent.

"I don't think that this is going to end well." Gaara said after a second.

"I just hope that Neji was wrong, I don't think that Naruto will be okay if she refuses him again. It took him two years to get over Hinata. I can't stand to see him like that again."

"I'm not sure that he ever got over Hinata and her over him. You didn't see her expression when I told her that he was Hokage and that you were in the middle of a war with Orochimaru. I think she still loves him." Gaara said while looking outside to see Naruto pacing.

"We'll just have to wait and see if something happens."

About ten minutes later, Naruto was bursting into Orochimaru's main chamber with two whole anbu squads and Gaara. As they came in Orochimaru handed Hinata to Kabuto while saying "Hello Lord Hokage, Lord Kazekage. How are you doing? What brings you here?"

"We're here to end this war between sound and leaf. I just have one question for you before I kill you; why do you have Hinata here?"

"GO! Get away from here Naruto!" Hinata yelled when she recognized his voice.

"It seems as if I was right in taking this one hostage. All I'm asking for her safety is for you to trade places with her. Well? Are you going to trade places with her to ensure that she is safe?" Orochimaru purred.

"You can't do that Naruto! He's just going to kill me anyway! He's already taken my sight so if he doesn't kill me I will never be a kunoichi ever again. I would lose what I hold most dear to me." Hinata cried before being silenced by Kabuto.

"I can't just leave you here. I‒"

"Naruto, you need to listen to Hinata. You can't sacrifice yourself, you're the Hokage. The village will be destroyed if you die." Gaara said.

"I can't just sit here and watch her be killed Gaara. I'm sorry about this but I have to do what I think is right. The village will be okay. All right Orochimaru, I'll trade places with Hinata." Naruto said after a second.

"_NO!_ I won't let you throw your life away! Orochimaru, I'll give you anything if you let them live. You can have my byakugan if you just let them live." Hinata cried.

"Hinata‒"

"You can't change my mind Naruto; you could never change my mind. Konoha needs you and I can't let you sacrifice you're life for someone like me. You finally achieved your dream." she said quietly.

"Isn't this interesting, I'll consider your offer then Lady Hinata. And by the way that is very noble and foolish of you to think that that's enough to stop me from destroying the leaf. What's stopping me from taking your byakugan after killing all leaf shinobi?" Orochimaru asked before attacking.

"NO!"

Hinata could hear the clashing of kunais and ninjatos while she felt Kabuto's kunai against her throat loosen. Sakura had snuck up behind them and knocked him unconscious before taking Hinata from the danger zone.

"Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"Sakura, is that you? What's happening to Naruto?" Hinata asked frightened.

"The usual, he didn't listen to me so he's fighting Orochimaru with Gaara without regard to his health. What has Orochimaru done to your eyes?"

"He had Kabuto try and take my byakugan but before he could you guys blew up the entrance. Kabuto cut my eye lids and severed the tie to my brain."

"This is going to be difficult to fix. I'm going to just apply some basic medical aide before healing it back at the village."

"Can't you just fix it here? I can't go back there." Hinata said, hoping that the answer would be different than what she's expecting.

"Why? What is stopping you from going back home with everyone?"

"I'm sorry but I just can't do that. I can't go back." Hinata said.

"Fine, I'll work on your eyes after this. Is that okay with you?"

"Yes, but I don't want Naruto to be here when you do. Just in case I cry out in pain or something, I don't want him worried about me. Could you promise me that?" Hinata asked desperately, she also didn't want to see his face in case she can't hold back her tears.

"I promise but it won't be necessary. I won't let you be in pain during the healing." Sakura said while bandaging her eyes and looking around to see how the fight is going. As she looked over she didn't notice Kabuto's body moving up behind Hinata with a kunai. The next thing she saw was Kiba flying by her and stabbing a ninjato through Kabuto's eye and Akamaru jumping in front of Hinata to protect her.

"Sakura, what's going on? Is that you Akamaru?" Hinata asked while placing her hand on Akamaru's head. She heard a bark in reply.

"Are you okay Hinata?" Kiba asked while kneeling down next to her.

"I'm fine, Sakura bandaged my eyes. How is everyone doing in the fight?"

"It's almost over, I've never seen Naruto fight this well." Kiba said in awe.

"Is anyone been hurt? I don't know what I'll do if someone is hurt because of me, especially not Naruto or Gaara." Hinata added after realizing what she implied.

"We all know that you still love him. You can argue all you want but we all know." Kiba growled, annoyed.

"Nothing you say is going to convince me to come back to Konoha. I stand by what I said three years ago. I'm never going back." Hinata growled back, angry by the truth in Kiba's words.

"Then you will destroy Naruto and the rest of us. Have you ever thought of how the rest of us think about you never going home? We've all been hoping for over three years that you would change your mind and come back to the leaf village where you belong. Yori's village is destroyed and you have nowhere to go now, so why can't you head home?" Sakura asked.

"I'll find somewhere else to live but I'm not going back on my word." Hinata said after a minute. As she said that, she heard that the fight was over and flinched when she heard Naruto say "Are you okay Hinata?"

"I'm fine Naruto. Sakura is going to heal my eyes and then I'll be on my way."

"You're not going back to Konoha, are you?" Naruto said sadly.

"As I have told Sakura and Kiba, I'm not going back. I don't care what you or anyone says; I'm never going back there." Hinata growled. When Naruto went to sit next to Hinata, she flinched away from him and asked "What are you doing?"

"I wanted to see how bad your eyes are. I'm sorry if I scared you or something. I also wanted to say that you could go back to Konoha and I'll leave you alone. You can date anyone you want; it doesn't have to be me. Everyone misses you, even your father and sister."

"I'll think about what you said." Hinata said surprised that he would say that; she thought that he would try and convince her to come back to date him.

"Naruto, you need to check on the people outside while I heal Hinata." Sakura said, hoping that Hinata would really consider coming back. She knew that it was hard for Naruto to say that but she also realized that he really loved Hinata and just wanted her happy even if he's not dating her.

"If you want me to; I'll see you later Hinata for your answer. Kiba why don't you come outside with me."

Once Naruto was gone Sakura turned to Hinata and asked "Could you really consider coming back? Everyone misses you so much."

"I'll think about it for a day. I'll tell him my answer tomorrow."

"All right but I don't think that I have enough chakra to fully heal your eyes so when you tell him I'll be there to either heal them completely or re-bandage them so that I can heal them at Konoha."

"Okay, where am I going to stay? I'll just set up a camp near the village while I think; I don't want to actually be in the village."

"All right but why doesn't someone stay with you in case there are still sound shinobi still in the forest? I could stay with you." Sakura said.

"Okay, I agree to that but do you think that you could tell Naruto? I don't want to tell him."

"I'll tell him but he probably would come in here anyway to make sure that's what you want or try and change your mind."

"I know and he knows that I won't be swayed by him." Hinata said while shaking her head thinking about what he was going to do when he found out she was coming back. She had already decided a while ago to go back but she wanted him to think it was a hard decision.

"I've done as much as I can for now, I'm going to go and tell Naruto. If you're in any pain just tell me and I'll see what I can do about it."

"Thank you for this." After Sakura was gone Hinata walked and leaned against the wall until she heard two people enter the room. She stood up straighter and prepared herself to hear his voice.

"I'll be back around eight o'clock tomorrow morning to hear your answer. I just have one question to ask you, it has something to do with what you said the last time I had seen you."

"What do you want to ask?" Hinata asked, starting to get worried about what he was going to ask.

"Had you actually moved on three years ago? Please just tell me the truth."

"Yes and no, that's all I'm going to say about this subject. I don't want to talk about this." Hinata said with finality that he didn't mention it again.

"Okay, I just want you to know that I still love you. I guess that I'll see you tomorrow." After he said that he leaned down and kissed her lips before leaving the chamber.

Hinata was stunned when he pulled away and all she could do was stand there after he left, thinking that it wasn't possible for him to have waited on her to come back after three years. Sakura noticed Hinata's reaction and said "He's not lying, you know. People asked him and each one he turned down gently saying that he was waiting on someone to come back home. He never stopped hoping that you would come back to Konoha."

"What do you think I should do? Should I go back and just forget the past or should I keep looking for a new place to live?" Hinata said hesitantly.

"I think you should follow your instincts and heart. Will you be happy away from all your friends and long time crush who finally returned your feelings or with a lot of strangers?" Sakura asked quietly.

"You think I should go back to Konoha and I…agree with you, there is just one thing though; I don't think I could be with Naruto just yet though."

"I think that if he can wait three years he can wait a _little_ longer. I'm just glad that you're finally coming home tomorrow. I hope that you stay at Konohagakure and that you're happy." Sakura said while beaming at Hinata.

"I hope so too, so when are we going to set up camp?"

"I'll start that while you start a fire. And please be careful, actually I think you should just make the fire circle since you can't see." Sakura said remembering that Hinata couldn't see right then.

The next day Hinata heard approaching people and she guessed that the other's found out about her choices. As they entered the campsite she stood, raised a kunai and asked "Who's there? Naruto? I thought that you were just going to come and not anyone else?"

"I was but everyone else kind of found me as I was leaving and got it out of me. Sorry about that but what is your answer? Are you coming back or leaving?" Naruto asked nervously.

"I think that I should let Sakura answer for me while I pack up. She'll explain everything." Hinata said turning to hide her smile from them.

"Well…Hinata is coming back! She's coming back to the leaf village!" Sakura said happily and as the others went to hug Hinata, she pulled Naruto aside and told him, "Only one thing though, she doesn't think she can date you just yet. I'm sorry but she's just not ready yet."

"Its fine, I'll be fine. I'm just glad that you told me ahead of time and also that she's finally coming home after three years." Naruto said while smiling toward Hinata. He wasn't really worried that Hinata won't date him again; he was going to wait as long as she needed him to.

"I'm happy that you understand. I think that once she settles in again she'll be back to normal and realize that you love her." Sakura said after a second.

"I can't believe you're coming back Hinata! Just wait until you see Kurenai sensei!" Kiba yelled along with Akamaru knocking her down on her butt and licking her face.

"Akamaru! Ha-ha, would you get off me? You weigh way too much to do that, I missed you too. Ha-ha!" Hinata said while laughing. When Naruto saw that, he smiled and helped her to her feet, Hinata thought it was Kiba or Shino so she smiled back and said "Thank you."

"You're welcome, when will you and Sakura be ready to go home?" Naruto asked. As Hinata heard his voice close to her she realized it was Naruto and pulled back after a second.

"I'm not sure, I am all packed but I don't think Sakura is. She takes forever to pack everything and get ready." Hinata said jokingly.

"Very funny Hinata. If I remember correctly, you took the most time to even wake up this morning while I was awake and around."

"Whatever, I'm guessing from what Sakura was saying is that we're ready to go home." Hinata said shrugging on her pack.

|-{-|-{-|-}-|-}-|


	9. Chapter 9

**a/n: thank you so much for reviewing. here's a new chapter i hope you enjoy. and if you haven't already please check out my oneshot that i posted titled Concrete Angel. it's a sonfic if you were wondering.**

|-{-|-{-|-}-|-}-|

Two months had passed since Hinata had come back and her eyes were just now fully healed so she could see everything and be a kunoichi again. While walking home from the hospital she walked into Naruto and said "I'm sorry. I didn't see you there."

"It's fine, how are your eyes?" Naruto asked seeing that her bandages are gone.

"Sakura said that they are finally fully healed but I'm not supposed to use my byakugan for a week or two in case something goes wrong. I'm just glad that I have my eyes back to normal, or at least close to normal. I'll see you later Naruto."

"I'm glad that you're fine now. Before you go, do you want to get some ramen with me? Not as a date or anything. Just a bowl between two friends, I swear." Naruto said quickly, hoping that she understood that he was giving her space.

"Sure, I guess we could but maybe tomorrow? I told my father that I was going to head by his office as soon as I was done at the hospital. I'm sorry but I have to go now. Bye." Hinata said before rushing toward her house. _'I really hope that Naruto isn't mad at me, I just can't be alone with him without my heart pounding.'_ Hinata thought as she walked into her house.

"Just great, now she's avoiding me. She's fine with me and everyone else; I guess that she doesn't want to be alone with me."

"She's scared of her feelings for you, Naruto. Can't you see that?" Kiba said from behind Naruto. Kiba had come up and heard what Naruto said.

"Why would she be scared of her feelings? What have I done to scare her?"

"It's not what you've done; it's what she had hoped for that has her scared. I remember when you didn't notice that she liked you; she had always watched and looked up to you. Hinata had trained her hardest but she kept messing or giving up until a couple of days later when she tried again. One day she just gave up hoping that you would notice her so she tried to move on. I just don't think she can move on from you but she doesn't trust herself or you not to let her down."

"You must really know her inside and out. How long do you think she liked me?" Naruto asked wondering why he got over Sakura so fast when Hinata's been trying to get over him for five years and has failed.

"I'd say about twelve years. But I think that she'll come around soon, once she gets over her fear." After Kiba said that he headed in the direction of his house leaving Naruto thinking about some things that aren't right in his life.

During the next week, Naruto and Hinata got lunch about three times and Hinata trained with Kiba and Shino like when they were genin together. She was getting stronger without using her byakugan but once she was able to use it she creamed both of them with ease. It turns out that she had been practicing constantly at Yori's village in case that she had to battle a jinchûriki one day.

"I bet that you could beat Naruto at your level right now." Kiba said after one day of practice.

"I'm not so sure that I'm that strong yet. I don't really want to be protected like some weak little girl anymore and I also want to protect the people I love." Hinata said after considering what Kiba said the day before.

"I think you have achieved that quite nicely. Did you ever think about joining the anbu black ops? I bet that they could use someone with the byakugan."

"I agree and father has always hoped that I would be an anbu member so that I won't be a total waste of Hyuga blood and flesh." Hinata said remembering the conversation that she had with her father years ago.

"I don't think he sees you like that anymore. I'm really glad that you're back."

"I'm glad also, I missed everyone here. I just couldn't face my fear about coming back. I'll see you guys later." Hinata said while leaving from the practice field to meet Naruto at Ichiraku Ramen for dinner. They had been spending a lot of time together, reminding Hinata about why she fell in love with him. She also likes the fact that Naruto hasn't asked or pressured her about dating him again.

"Hey Naruto, how was your day so far?" Hinata asked when she saw him.

"It was okay except for all of my paperwork I had to do. How was training?"

"It's not as challenging as it used to be, I can beat Shino and Kiba easily, even when they come at me together with their best jutsus."

"Why don't you train with Neji or your sister? They would be able to help you with your gentle fist style. Did you ever think about that?" Naruto asked.

"No, why don't we eat some ramen before my father comes looking for me?" Hinata said while dragging him toward Ichiraku's, and after eating Naruto walked Hinata home.

As Hinata turned to leave, Naruto's hand grabbed hers to pull her closer to his chest where he hugged her close. When she was there she asked "What's going on? What did I do to deserve this?"

"You came back to Konoha and you don't hate me. I'm sorry if I did something wrong." He said uncertainly. Naruto didn't want what he had been building ruined again.

"Its fine, I don't mind you doing this." She said before hugging him back and leaning her head against his chest. After a couple of minutes she pulled back and went inside, once she was inside he smiled and thought _'I think she's finally coming around to thinking about dating me. Yes!'_ while Hinata was hyperventilating in her room thinking about how close she had been to kissing him. She realized that she was falling back in love with Naruto after spending about five years of getting over him. "This is just great…this had better not end the way it had the last time. I wonder when he'll ask me out or will he just assume that we're together again?"

The next day Hinata went to Kurenai's house to ask for some advice; when Hinata got there she saw that Kurenai was out. As she walked home she saw Shikamaru and Temari together, as if they were on a date or something. She smiled thinking how great it was that they had finally figured out what each of them felt about the other. Naruto walked up to her and asked "What are you smiling about?"

"I'm just happy that Shikamaru and Temari are finally dating. Don't you think it took them long enough? And what are you doing here?" Hinata said while turning toward the current Hokage.

"I finished my paperwork early and escaped from Shizune to walk around the village and visit the academy. And it didn't take nearly as long as it took me to ask you out that first time." Naruto said, while taking Hinata's hand and pulling her toward the edge of the road. Once they were in the shadows Naruto asked "How are you doing? And sorry about dragging you over here, I wanted to talk in private and away from some fan girls. They chase me all around the village and it is almost impossible to lose them."

"I'm fine with this; actually I'm really okay about this. I haven't had a chance to talk to you about something." Hinata said while dropping his hand.

"What do you want to talk about?" he asked, a little worried.

"I have been meaning to talk to you about me joining the anbu black ops. My father has always wanted me to join and lately I've been thinking that it would be just the challenge that I need." Hinata said in a rush, hoping that Naruto wouldn't argue.

"Are you sure about that? Anbu members get the toughest missions and the most dangerous ones."

"I'm sure; I've been training with father and Neji. I can beat Neji now when I was hopelessly behind him. I know all the dangers and I think that I'm ready to face them."

"I know that you are, sorry about that. I'm just worried about you. I'll see what I can do and I will get back to you later."

"Thank you so much! I'll see you later! Thank you!" Hinata said before kissing his cheek in farewell. Hinata felt a familiar blush on her cheeks as she walked down the street toward her house. When she walked into the Hyuga compound she was greeted by her cousin Neji.

"How are you Hinata? I haven't seen very much of you in the past week."

"I'm good, I've been training with Shino and Kiba but I've surpassed them so much that I defeated both of them without breaking a sweat."

"That's great, if you need someone to train with I'll help you out. We could practice gentle fist and rotation. Also I really want to see the jutsu you created." Neji said honestly.

"Sure, I can teach you that move if you want me to." Hinata said while smiling.

"That would be great. I'll see you later." Neji said before leaving to meet Tenten in town. When Neji left Hinata went to her room and thought about what she did when she said goodbye to Naruto. She didn't think that she would be ready to date him again for a long time.

While she was in her room thinking, Naruto was walking back to his office wondering why Hinata had kissed his cheek. He thought that Hinata didn't want to date him but why would she kiss him? Naruto needed to find out what was going on with her and the only way was to ask another girl, Sakura. She should know what is going on about Hinata.

"Well…how much time, have you two spent together?" Sakura asked when Naruto confronted her about Hinata.

"A lot of time but I haven't said anything about dating her. I've just been a friend to her and not a boyfriend. I just don't get why she kissed me."

"She might be falling for you again or that she was so happy that you would do that for her."

"I think that it might be the later reason and not the first. I'm not sure that she'll ever love me again but I'm okay with that as long as she is happy and here at the village." He said before he left to go to his office and work on his mountain of paperwork.

When he left, Sakura went to Sasuke's house to talk him into setting Naruto and Hinata up on a date because it was obvious that they both still love each other.

"Are you sure that we should interfere with this? It seems that they are doing just fine right now. Why do we need to get in the way when Hinata is showing signs that she's warming up to Naruto again?" Sasuke said after Sakura explained everything to him.

"Because I don't think that Hinata will be able to forgive Naruto fully and date him again; no matter how much she loves him. I can't stand see her sad or hurt when it's so easily fixed." Sakura said.

"But we might ruin this if we push her too hard, I say give it a month and if they're not dating then you can do whatever you want." Sasuke reasoned.

"Fine, I'll wait for a month before doing anything. I guess that I'll see you later, love you."

"L…love you too." Sasuke stuttered when Sakura leaned in and pecked his lips with hers. After she left Sasuke went to Naruto's office to warn him about what Sakura had in mind.

"She's going to do what? I can't believe that Sakura is thinking of doing this. Why didn't you talk her out of this?"

"I tried but you know how stubborn she can be. I'm sorry."

"Its fine but I'm trying to get Hinata to trust me again before asking her out. If Sakura does something wrong she could drive Hinata further away from me." Naruto said while walking across the room to stare out the window as if to see Hinata walking down the street. All he saw where his villagers laughing and talking to each other.

"I don't think that it's going to come to Sakura interfering with you two. From what I hear, Hinata is coming around again." Sasuke said slyly.

"I'm still a long away from being able to date her again. I have to complete all of this paperwork before tomorrow or Shizune will _kill_ me." Naruto said, telling Sasuke that he needed to be alone for a while and that he was in trouble.

"I'll see you later about my mission. I hope that you and Hinata will end up together." Sasuke while leaving the room and walking into Hinata. "Sorry, I didn't see you there."

"It's okay; I probably shouldn't be running around a corner like that. Is Naruto in there? I need to talk to him." Hinata said in a rush. She wanted to ask Naruto if she was going to be an anbu black op.

"He's there but I suggest that you don't bother him, he's working on paperwork. I'm sure that he'll be done by tomorrow or Shizune is going to kill him." Sasuke explained.

"Okay, I'll see him tomorrow. Bye Sasuke." After Hinata said that she ran outside and to her house so that she could make it to train with Neji. Once she was there she saw that Neji was talking to her father about her skill with fighting.

"She's better than Hanabi and is better than me. Why do you keep saying that she's weak? She could probably beat you in a match."

"I don't think that she's weak I just don't think that she will make a good heir to the Hyuga clan. She's just not tough enough or emotionally distant enough to run our clan so I'm making Hanabi the heir and Hinata part of the branch." Hiashi said to Neji and he walked away. Hinata had hid from him as soon as he came near her so when he was gone she walked out to Neji.

"Hello Hinata. Is something wrong?" Neji asked when he saw her expression.

"Everyone thing is fine, could we start training?" Hinata asked hoping that it would distract her from what she had heard.

"Sure but did you hear what Lord Hiashi and I were talking about?"

"I heard the end of the conversation and I don't want to talk about it. I knew that father hated me I just didn't know how much."

"You do know that you'll get the caged bird mark on your forehead. I'm really sorry about this though." Neji said before standing in the Hyuga stance.

"I know this; I'm fine with it if it means that he'll stop hating me. And as long as I keep my byakugan I'm okay." Hinata said while also getting into the Hyuga stance.

Neji and Hinata trained for about four hours before taking a break and walking inside where Hinata saw her father. As she walked in he said "I need to talk to you Hinata. Alone."

"Yes sir, I'll see you later Neji."

"Okay, let's practice tomorrow around noon." Neji said as he was leaving.

Her father told Hinata about what he had discussed with Neji and the way to change that was to become stronger or be an anbu member. When she told him that she was working on that he said that if she made it she would be the heir again.

"Yes, sir, I will try my best. I'm sorry that I'm not strong enough."

"Make sure you do." Hiashi said as he walked away.

The next day Hinata went to see Naruto, as she walked in she saw that Naruto was near the window staring at the village. When she closed the door he turned around and asked "Why are you here Hinata? Is something wrong?"

"I'm fine I was just going to ask you about what you found out. Am I going to be an anbu member or do I have to tell my father no?" Hinata asked hesitantly hoping that she wouldn't have to get the caged bird curse.

"They are looking for a Hyuga but are you sure that you want to take it? It's very dangerous and you could die on any of the missions." Naruto said hoping that she would decline.

"Yes I'm sure; my father has been saying things that I need to follow."

"Has he threatened you in any way? What has he said to you?"

"If I'm not an anbu member he was going to give me the caged bird curse and remove me from the main branch into a lesser branch. Then Hanabi would be the heir to the Hyuga clan." Hinata murmured while looking away from Naruto. She didn't want him to see her tears about admitting this out loud.

"He said _what_? I can't believe that he would do that to you! _Why?_"

"Father thinks that I'm not going to be a good heir, I'm not tough enough or emotionally detached enough to run the Hyuga clan. Please don't get involved with Father; I can take care of myself. I'm sorry." Hinata said while tears ran freely down her face.

"All right, I won't do anything. I promise, and I'm sorry that your father thinks that. I'll notify you when you can acquire your equipment. Sorry." Naruto said while wiping her tears from her face and kissing her cheek after her tears were gone.

After he pulled away she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged herself close to his chest, when she started to cry again Naruto's hands went to her waist. As she sobbed he kept saying "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry about this."

When Hinata stopped crying she pulled back and said "Thank you for that. I…I have to go home and tell Father that I'm an anbu black op member." Hinata said while wiping her face.

"I'll see you later. I'm so sorry about this." Naruto said, watching Hinata walk out of his office before turning back to his paperwork.

As Naruto tried to do his paperwork, Hinata was telling her father the news and when Hiashi heard this he smiled before saying that she was the heir again.

|-{-|-{-|-}-|-}-|


End file.
